Is It Wrong to Make Friends in Another Dimension?
by BreadNotDead
Summary: Wherein Neptune keeps getting hurled into other dimensions, Bell gets himself a supposedly new goddess companion, and Hestia keeps getting referred to as "Mini-Noire".
1. Dimension Tripper Indeed

So here I am, with another Neptunia crossover.

I know, one must think if I can't ever make a crossover without the Neptunia series for once. But hey, it's the only series that actually has dimension crossing as a constant running gag, so I just couldn't resist. Anyways, the reason for crossing it over with the DanMachi series is because the first thing I commented upon when I saw Hestia was: "She's practically like a smaller version of Noire with Neptune's personality!". I assumed that other fans would pick up on this, but was disappointed with the lack of crossovers, so this came to be.

I'll be perfectly honest that I don't know where I'll be going with this... I just had the urge to write a crossover... so yeah...

Ahem, so anyway... as there a lot of dimension counterparts, to specify, this Neptune is Animation!Neptune.

 **DISCLAIMER: Hyperdimension Neptunia is developed by Compile Heart and Idea Factory. Dungeon ni Deai o Motomeru no wa Machigatteiru Daro ka or known in English as Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? or simply DanMachi is written by Fujino Omori.**

* * *

 **CHAPTER 1:**

 **Here Be Neptune, Dimension Tripping Yet Again**

* * *

"Haaaah!"

 _Schwing!_

With one final slash, the two whale monsters burst into purple-colored data.

A red and black-colored tail comes swinging, and Neptune only had a few seconds to react before it sends her hurling into the ground, katana breaking into three pieces, and the timer given to her by the Ultradimension Histoire is thrown from her pocket and slides on the ground nearby.

 _00' 00" 17_

The dragon leans down its face on the fallen purple-haired girl with its tongue slithering about, preparing to finish her off, but it fails to notice the yellow-haired figure rising up from behind—

"Don't bully Neptuna!"

—and giving it one good, hard kick in the face that leaves data fragments sputtering out from its body, before disappearing entirely from existence.

Neptune stares in awe at Yellow Heart's form (absently thinking from the back of her mind that wait this is pretty familar didn't this happen with Noire before) as she sends Neptune a triumphant smile, and lands at Neptune's side as they face another dragon looming in front of them.

Feeling encouraged by her friend's assistance, Neptune stands up with determination brimming in her eyes as she resummons her katana to her hand. Though it had just broken a while ago, as long as she had the katana's data structure stored in her equipment database, she can summon it anytime she wants.

"Let's go, P-ko!"

Behind her, Yellow Heart nods. "Right, Neptuna!"

Letting out a roar, the dragon rushes forward with its claws raised, as the two girls leap upwards—

"Taaaaah!" Neptune brings down her sword.

"Haaaaa!" Yellow Heart draws in her leg backwards, before unleashing another kick.

—their combined attacks hit the dragon with full force, only managing to give one final glitched cry as it vanishes into the mixed colors of blue and red data.

 _00' 00" 00_

"Opening gate!"

At Mini-Histoire's call, a beam of energy shoots up into the sky, a large rune emerging from it. The blonde-haired girl standing in the circle of light clutches the white-petaled flowers in her hands with worry.

"But Neptune..."

"If it's Nep-chan, I'm sure things will be okay," Plutia tells her with assurance.

Before Vert could say anything more, a bright glow surrounds her body as she and the circle of light disappear from the spot, leaving faint trickles of light behind. The sparkles were pretty to look at, which Plutia couldn't help but stare after with a smile.

Meanwhile, Neptune picks up the fallen timer, sees the frozen red numbers on it, places it in her pocket; and stares at the warp point up ahead, accepting the fact that she had missed her opportunity in going back home. Next to her, Yellow Heart transforms back into her smaller human form.

"Neptuna... why didn't you go...?!"

"You were in a pinch, P-ko. I couldn't just leave you," Neptune states matter-of-factly. She approaches the small child and leans down to her eye level to give her a reassuring grin.

Peashy's eyes start to water at Neptune's sacrifice and embraces her, soft muffled sobs coming out from her throat. Neptune smiles and returns the hug.

Behind them, the familiar hum of the warp point's activation sound alert the two girls of the three girls' presence that just teleported into the room.

Ultra Noire widens her eyes upon seeing the purple-haired girl. "Ah!? Why are you still here?!"

"Hey, everyone! Good work!" Neptune greets casually.

"Telling us 'Good work!' in such a casual manner is inappropriate for your situation," Ultra Vert tells her. "What do you plan to do?"

Neptune merely laughs and places a hand in the back of her head. "Aw, I'm sure things will work out! After all, I am the main character!" She gives a wink. "Right?"

The three Ultradimension goddesses give each other knowing glances at her reply. Based on the stories Plutia had told them about her, it seemed that this Neptune always had this optimistic outlook with her, and this situation was no different.

"Anyway, first thing's first, we should get out of this tower," Neptune says, approaching the warp point's controls that looked like an old video game console with Peashy in hand. She fumbles with the cartridge labelled with "DOWN STAIRS" as it doesn't seem to be budging. "Huh? That's strange... is something wrong with this thing?"

She starts to pull at it with even more force, making Ultra Blanc raise a hand towards her in concern. "If you treat it roughly like that, it might just brea—"

Her warning appears to have been said too late, as a flash of bright light shines out from the device, enveloping the entire area.

"Waaaah!"

"Neptuna!?"

The light eventually subsided, but to everyone's shock Neptune wasn't present anymore.

Peashy frantically looks around for any sign of the purple-haired girl. "Where's Neptuna?!"

The three girls behind her look equally as confused. "Huh? She... disappeared?" Ultra Noire asks out loud.

Ultra Blanc's face changes into a troubled expression. "This is only an assumption of mine, but I think... Neptune might have been transported into another dimension."

The others turn to stare at her with surprise. "Eh?! Another dimension?! How do you know for sure if the dimension she got transported into wasn't her own?" Ultra Noire exclaims.

"From what I know, only Histoire is supposed to have access between the Hyperdimension and ours. So for her to have triggered a portal in this manner... I can only theorize that she accessed another dimension instead," Ultra Blanc explains, to which Ultra Noire responds with an "Eehh? Is that for real?" in disbelief.

"Then... Neptuna's gone?" Tears start to well up in Peashy's eyes before she bursts out into loud cries. "Waaaaah!"

"Oh dear," Ultra Vert says worryingly as she scoops up the crying Peashy into her arms and comforts her.

"We're going to have to talk with Histoire about this..." Ultra Blanc states.

Ultra Noire places a hand in front of her face in exasperation. "Ugh, things just got a lot more complicated..."

* * *

 _'That was a really good meal,'_ the white-haired, red-eyed boy thinks to himself, as he swallows the final piece of meat down his mouth. He inwardly sends a grateful thanks to Syr and the people of the [Hostess of Fertility] for having given him such a delicious meal. He peeked into the basket and saw that there were still some bread and some leftover fishes, but opted not to eat them all straight away and save them for later, just in case he got hungry again. His stomach was satisfied with his current meal, it was one of the rare moments where he got to eat so much during lunch since he would normally go with small pieces of bread and cheese, and the occasional biscuits to avoid spending too much on Valis.

 _'Now then...'_ Having finished his meal, he wraps the food with the white blanket and places the rest into his bag, leaving only the basket. He's going to have to drop off the basket later so he won't have to carry it all the way with him to the Dungeon. With his lunch done, he stands up from the bench he was sitting on and prepares to head off for his usual dungeon exploration. He glances down at his knee and moves it around a bit, and winces at the slight jolt of pain. He knows he should be recovering, but...

...if it's to reach -that person- then he can't afford to stop now.

He'll just have to be careful not to push it too far—he wouldn't want to worry the others. He nods to himself, and with a determined smile, walks off to his destination.

* * *

Neptune slowly opened her eyes, giving a couple of blinks as her vision had to adjust from the bright light that had engulfed her. As soon as her eyesight recovered, she notices that she seemed to be lying down on some rocky terrain. She moves her body to get up, but slightly winces in pain as she notices a couple of scrapes on her face and arms. How did she get those?

...Wait, if she recalls, when that bright light shone, she felt like... she was being sucked into something. Could it be that she ended up falling into this location? Neptune sighs, looks like she could never end up being teleported somewhere without face-planting along the way.

She brushes off the dirt and dust in her clothes and looks around. She looked to be in some cave location of some sort, seeing as how the surroundings were quite dim, had it not been for the green lights that were placed along the cave walls. Neptune doesn't recognize this location. She doesn't think she's been here before. Ah, could it be she got warped into one of the [Cursed Hell Devil Death Bloody Spectral Tower]'s floors? After all, she never really got to exploring the entire place except for the 9,999th floor to find the flowers they needed to cure the Candidates from the [Bad End Syndrome].

"Hmm... anyway, I should get to the warp point so I can properly warp myself to the entrance," Neptune says out loud.

Just as she makes one step to head off, she hears a sound that makes her stop. "Huh...?"

 _Grrrck_

 _Grrrrck_

The cave walls seemed to be -actually breaking apart- as it looked like tiny green creatures started to crawl out from inside of them.

Neptune could only stare in shock as her mind was processing what was happening in front of her. "Holy moly! That's the first time I've seen monsters spawn like that!"

The tiny green monsters let out these tiny low growls that Neptune assumed was their battle cry, as they were starting to come rushing at her. Neptune stared at the incoming monsters with a calm, albeit confused look on her face as if she was examining them.

"I've never seen monsters like you before. But I don't have time for you guys, so I'll finish this off quick." Neptune raises her arm in front of her, as if to summon her sword. A couple of seconds tick by, and nothing happens, making her blink in confusion. "Huh?"

Neptune had to dodge as the little green monsters had already reached her, swinging their tiny long arms in her direction. They were surprisingly faster than they looked like. She leaps back to get some distance, staring at her hand and wondering why her katana wouldn't manifest.

"Aw man, do I have to say a summoning chant or something?" She mutters to herself. But she's pretty sure she's never had to do that before—"Whoa!" Another one of those things came at her! Was it trying to bite her or something?!

Neptune huffed. Fine then, if her sword won't come out, then she'll resort to brute force!

"Tee-yaaaah!"

Drawing her leg backwards, she kicks the incoming green thing with her foot like a soccer ball. It soars backwards in the air like a projectile and hits the wall with a harsh thud, its body sliding down into the ground afterwards. Neptune's eyes widen momentarily when she disturbingly realized that even though it had been defeated, it didn't burst into data—but had to focus her attention on the other monsters who were coming at her with even faster movements; perhaps not taking it too kindly when they saw their comrade fall down. Neptune sweatdrops as she ended up doing a lot of kicking afterwards.

"Phew, guess that's all of them," Neptune says with a sigh, placing her hands on her hips as she looks at the motionless bodies of the monsters around her. One, two, three... yep, there were five bodies in total. Her expression turned into that of unease. Not only were these monsters unusual... even their defeated forms were unusual! Why no data disappearing?! While she was curious about the cause, she knew that standing here and thinking about it wasn't going to accomplish anything. She had to get out of here, meet up with the others, and then they can help her think!

She takes another step forward when—

 _Grrrrrccckk_

—"Oh come on, what is it this time?" Neptune groans.

She turns to face whatever it was that was going to crawl out of the wall, expecting another one of those tiny green guys, but when some human-like shadow with arms came crawling out menacingly without a sound, from its stance alone Neptune could already tell that thing was not to be messed with. It rushed at her with impressive speed, and Neptune could only dodge to the side as one its "fingers" had nicked at one of her arms that she had raised defensively. It only scratched her, but it was quite painful.

Neptune clutched her wounded arm closer with a freaked out look on her face. "Uwah, that thing looks like bad news...!" Spotting a couple of rocks nearby, she hurriedly picks one up and hurls one with impressive force at the shadow-like creature, but it dodged the attack with its fast speed. Neptune "Tsks" at the miss, as she realizes that kind of tactic won't work. She could probably take it on if she had a weapon, but...

 _Grrrccckkk_

She could hear the sound of more walls cracking, most likely more monsters appearing, and with that shadow-thing here, she'd rather not stick around to fight it and other monsters accompanying it.

So, turning on her heel ( _'It's a tactical retreat!'_ , she tells herself), she dashes past the shadow that barely managed to swipe at her, running off at the path which she assumed was the way out. "Maybe that's the exit!" She hears fast movement behind her, and when she turns to look, her face blanches when she sees the shadow creature still chasing after her.

"Gaaaah! Run away, run away!" Neptune runs as fast as her feet could take her.

* * *

"Ha!"

A green frog with one eye shoots out its long, sticky red tongue in an attempt to catch the boy, but he moves far too fast for it, as he slices its tongue with the dagger he held in his hand. The monster panics at the loss of its tongue, sputtering out incoherent blubbers as red liquid continued to drip from its sliced off tongue before it eventually collapsed and lay dead.

Seeing that the monster was defeated, the boy relaxes his stance. "All right, that should be enough for the day—"

"Daaaah! Move, move, mooooove!"

He had just turned around to see the source of the scream when he feels something barreling into his chest hard, that it sends them both crashing into the ground. They both simultaneously groan in pain, but the girl who was on top of him recovers faster and jolts her head upright behind her.

"It's here...!"

The boy, who was still wincing from the impact, lifts his head to see what had gotten her so worked up, when he pales at the creature that was coming at them with frightening speed.

Really, a [War Shadow]?! What was it doing here?! It was only supposed to spawn on the 6th floor, so why... he notes the girl's panicked expression, and deduces that it must have chased her from the 6th floor somehow.

As soon as it nears, he pushes the girl off with a hurried "Sorry!" as he rolls to the side just as the shadow had extended one of its long arms that would have hurt them had they remained in that position.

He stands up, gripping his dagger tightly, as the boy stares at the shadow creature with nervous eyes. He remembers he's faced this monster once before, but that was back when he was so caught up in his despair-filled emotions that he had fought it mindlessly without thinking of the consequences. It was even the cause of his injured knee.

...Still. He knows its weak spot, and there's only one of it. Compared to the numerous amount he had to battle the previous night, this should be easier. And plus, there's a girl, right? He can't let her get hurt, right? This is the kind of scenario that he frequently used to fantasize about, and if his grandfather were here, he'd want him to man up -now-. His knee's not that painful anymore, he can deal with this.

Mustering enough confidence, he breathes out to calm himself and dashes forward, dodging the arm that just barely grazed his cheek, and takes another step to dodge its other arm. It would retract its arms back and attempt to slash at him again—with those sharp, claw-like fingers—but the boy somehow managed to avoid every single one of its hits as he draws nearer to the main body.

It was fast, but the boy was faster.

With her body still sitting down on the ground, Neptune couldn't help but stare in awe of the boy's fast movements. He was good. He might just give IF a run for her money in terms of agility. His white hair made him look like a white blur, and his red eyes seemed to be glowing with determination.

Kind of like a white rabbit.

The last time the boy killed a War Shadow, he had pierced it through its face. And with his fist, nonetheless. But that was in a moment of sheer desperation. He wants to make sure he gets the [Magic Stone] this time, so he carefully aims his dagger at its chest and cuts through it. It starts to flail around a bit at the pain, but once the Magic Stone drops out of its chest, it stops and eventually crumbles away into black ashes.

The boy releases a tired sigh, but at the same time he sounded relieved. He bends over to pick up the fallen Magic Stone.

The sound of clapping catches his attention, and he faces the girl with mild surprise in his features who was currently rapidly clapping her hands together. "Ooohhh! That was really amazing! You were so fast! That shadow thing couldn't even land a hit on you!"

The boy's face grows a bit shy at the sudden praise the girl was giving him. At the very least, he does find comfort in the fact that he was able to dodge its attacks -this- time. "Um... thank you...?"

"I didn't know what I'd do when that thing came after me! Thanks for your help, uh..." She trails off, not knowing what to say next.

Seeing that she didn't know his name, the boy responds. "Oh, my name is Bell Cranel."

Despite the dirt and scrapes on her face, he thinks the smile the girl gives him is very radiant. "The name's Neptune! CPU of Planeptune, at your service!"

* * *

 **Some trivia:**

 ** _Bread, cheese and biscuits_ \- In Medieval times, bread and cheese were eaten by lower class workers called a "Ploughman's Lunch". Biscuits were apparently eaten as convenience food by workers during the Middle Ages. Taking Bell's low status as an Adventurer into account, and that the setting of the series is kinda like Medieval times, I just went with it.**

 **Source(s):**

 **C N Trueman "Food and Drinks In Medieval England". Historylearningsite-dot-co-dot-uk. The History Learning Site.**

 **Alchin, Linda. The Middle Ages. lordsandladies-dot-org.** **Middle Ages Daily Meals.**


	2. Neptune Gets Adopted

**_downyawood:_ ** Ah, really? Thank you for your support!

Huh, I honestly didn't expect the fic to get this much attention. Thanks to all the people who followed/faved! It gives me motivation!

 **DISCLAIMER: DO I LOOK LIKE I OWN ANYTHING—ah, well I'll just put this here:** **Hyperdimension Neptunia is developed by Compile Heart and Idea Factory. Dungeon ni Deai o Motomeru no wa Machigatteiru Daro ka or known in English as Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? or simply DanMachi is written by Fujino Omori.**

* * *

 **CHAPTER 2:**

 **So I've Got No Place To Stay...**

* * *

Bell blinked. "'CPU'...?" Was that a title of some sorts? Her words weren't really familiar with him...

Neptune studies the confused look on his face, a sense of realization starting to slowly creep up within her mind. "Aw, come on, you know? CPU? Console Patron Unit?"

The confusion still doesn't leave his face. "I'm sorry..." He starts to look sheepish. "Is that an Adventurer term here? I just recently came here to Orario, so I'm still not that knowledgeable about things here in the city..."

Neptune picked up on the new word he just said. "Huh? Orario? I've never heard of that place before... is that some location here in Planeptune?"

"Planep...?" Bell trails off in bewilderment.

Welp, his reaction just confirmed it. He doesn't know that a CPU is, he's never heard of Planeptune, so that obviously meant..."Ahhhh," Neptune heaves out a loud, exaggerated sigh, slouching her body forward while she was at it. "Looks like I've landed in another dimension again."

And to think that she was just in the Ultradimension. Looks like she can't stop being accidentally taken to other dimensions one way or another. Normally, one would be overcome with shock at the fact that they had been transported into a completely new and foreign dimension, but Neptune had already grown used to the running gag and treated such occurrences like these as normal.

Seeing that the boy before her - Bell, was it - was still looking pretty confused, Neptune decides to straighten up and explain things to him. "Well, another way of referring to a CPU is a goddess. Yeah, I know, things can get confusing when it comes to English localization terms."

Bell widens his eyes in surprise. Disregarding that confusing last bit aside, he exclaims, "Eh?! You're a goddess, Nepu... N-Neptu... N-Neptoo..."

Ah, he's pulling off a Compa. Neptune had to suppress a giggle at the way he was struggling just to say her name, she always found it amusing whenever others couldn't do it, especially when it comes to her Basilicom staff (this is why they had always opted for calling her "Purple Heart-sama" instead).

"Aw, if you're having too much trouble, you can just give me a nickname! Like Neppers, Neppy-Nep, Nep, the Nepster or whatever floats your boat," Neptune says.

"Oh, then may I refer to you as Nep-sama?" Bell asks.

"Just 'Nep' is fine, you know. You don't have to be so formal," Neptune replies.

"But you're a goddess, so it's only proper that I should give respect to you," Bell answers firmly.

He looks so insistent at it that Neptune decides to let it slide. "...Haha, wow, the way your eyes are giving me so much reverence is kinda making me blush," Neptune remarks with light embarrassment.

Out of all the goddesses, she was well-known for her lax ways, so her friends treated her casually like any other being, even with her human friends; to the extent that even her followers, with the admiration they have for her, regard her in a friendly manner as well (easygoing goddess also comes with easygoing followers—birds of a feather flock together, as they say). So she's not exactly used to being treated in such a formal way.

"...But ooh, 'Nep-sama' is like a combination of respect and endearment! It's a first! So I'm okay with it!" Neptune agrees enthusiastically. "And as for you..." She'd call him "Beru-Beru" or something along those lines, but that's what Peashy already calls Vert, so..."I'll just call you Bell-kun!" He and Vert had similar sounding names, might as well throw in a suffix to at least differentiate between the two.

Bell nods with a smile, having accepted their introductions with each other. "Um, so Nep-sama, what are you doing in a place like this? It's pretty dangerous to be in the Dungeon all by yourself." Especially since it looks like she didn't have any weapons with her...

Neptune rubs the back of her head with a sheepish smile. "Ahaha, you see, about that..."

A low growl resounds from her stomach, putting a halt to their conversation.

Oh, right, since Neptune was so caught up in saving Nepgear from the Bad End Syndrome she forgot to eat anything.

Bell remembers the food he had put away in his backpack and almost reaches to take it out, but remembers the location they were still currently in. "Ah, Nep-sama, I have some food you can eat, but we should get out of here first. Monsters might attack us at any moment."

They were pretty lucky that no monsters had attacked them in the middle of their conversation. There were only a certain number of monsters that could spawn in each floor, so perhaps he had managed to take all of them out? But they were bound to respawn eventually, so it's best to leave as to not take risks, Bell thinks to himself as he looks back at the quiet, dark path leading farther into the Dungeon.

"Oh Nep! There's a dead frog here!"

...And standing around here with a dead monster lying around isn't exactly going to help her appetite either.

* * *

They proceeded to leave the Dungeon, going up one floor at a time. Neptune had complained that it took too much effort in doing so, didn't they have a warp point or Escape Wing they could use? Bell didn't know what she meant by those words, but had explained to her that Adventurers have to walk all the way back from the floor they were in if they wanted to get back to the entrance. Neptune found such a rule a large inconvenience, but there was nothing she could do about it and grumpily walked along with him the rest of the way. The floor they had stayed in was the 5th floor, so it took them a total of four floors to get back to the Dungeon's entrance.

The rocky terrain and walls began to vanish, smooth tiles replacing it instead. Bell told Neptune that this tunnel was called the [Beginning Road] because naturally, this is the path leading to the Dungeon. There were a lot of Adventurers walking by, which Neptune had been staring and looking around in fascination. There were so many different people about with different clothes and different races ( _'Oh look a fox girl!'_ ).

The tunnel led to a set of stairs which led to a much wider and open space, the stairs they emerged from looking like a large hole in the center of the room. Judging by the people leaving through a large tunnel nearby, this was literally the "entrance to the Dungeon" itself.

"This is the underground floor leading to the Dungeon, [Babel]. It's a 'safe zone' since monsters don't spawn here," Bell had explained to Neptune, who was so busy admiring the painting of the sky in the ceiling overhead.

They were now currently sitting on one of the many benches placed around the town, as Bell was accompanying Neptune eat the bread he had given to her _. 'Looks like it was a good thing I saved some leftovers after all,'_ he thinks to himself as he watches Neptune give large, hungry bites.

Since the surroundings were relaxed and peaceful, this looked like a good opportunity to get some explanations done.

"So, anyway, like I was about to say earlier," Neptune begins, after swallowing a chunk of bread down her throat, "The reason why I was in that dungeon place was because I got transported there. I was actually in another dimension, somehow triggered a portal, and woke up there."

Bell had already gotten the idea that she wasn't from around here, seeing that she had absolutely no idea about dungeons or anything about Orario at all, which is why he had explained things that seemed so foreign to her. But saying that she was from another dimension... a very uncommon situation, but Bell dismissed it as a deity-thing. "It was a good thing you didn't get seriously hurt, Nep-sama. It's dangerous there in the Dungeon."

"Yeah, I lucked out on that one. I was pretty freaked out when that shadow thing came from those cave walls! Not only that, but these other green monsters came out of them too! I don't get it, what's up with that place?!" Neptune babbles in a slightly distressed tone.

 _'Green monsters? Oh, she must mean the Goblins.'_ "That shadow-like monster is called a War Shadow. They're the strongest monsters on the 6th floor, where you must've woke up. The 'green-like monsters' you mentioned are Goblins. In the Dungeon, monsters are born from walls and the ceilings. We don't know why that's the case, the Dungeon is mysterious like that. It's like the place itself has a mind of its own, since it repairs itself whenever something damages it," Bell explains. He fixes his gaze at said tower ahead. "The tower of Babel was built in order to stop the monsters from escaping the Dungeon. Up until today, no one knows how many floors the Dungeon has, or what's at the end of it. A lot of people around the world come here in Orario and become Adventurers to explore it."

At his explanation, Neptune follows his gaze at the tall looming tower in the distance, noting the similarities to the Cursed Hell Devil Death Bloody Spectral Tower. Perhaps there was a connection between the two towers which could have led to her being transported in here? Hm... _'I wonder if it'll be like the Cursed Hell Devil Death Bloody Spectral Tower and have 10,000 floors? They don't have elevators here so I guess it's going to take a long time for people to get to the last floor. ...Also, another good mystery to think about: who named the [Cursed Hell Devil Death Bloody Spectral Tower] anyway? It's seriously long, I'm going to abbreviate it to CHDDBS.'_

"The Guild is the organization that handles the monsters by giving us Adventurers missions to complete and obtain money..." Bell continues, but suddenly trails off as his eyes widen. He quickly stands up from the bench in alarm. "Ah! That's right!"

Neptune looks at up at him in confusion. "Hm? Something wrong?"

"I still have to get the Magic Stones I collected exchanged in the Guild! I had completely lost track of time...! I nearly forgot...!" He explains in a hurried tone.

It had gotten fairly late. The sky had already turned orange, it must be already late in the day. He had entered the Dungeon at slightly past noon, and the hours he spent over going down until the 5th floor must have consumed a lot more time than he expected.

"Um, ah, Nep-sama, if you don't mind, I have to be on my way to the Guild," Bell tells her, taking his black backpack and strapping it on his shoulders.

"Oh, all right," Neptune stuffs the last bit of bread left into her mouth, stands up, and follows Bell.

The place they had ended up sprinting off towards to was a large yellowish—greenish—brownish (Neptune couldn't decide, the sunset made it hard to tell) and white building with what seemed to have flags or emblems hanging down from the front in the upper part of the building's walls.

They entered through the doors, Neptune taking in the various counters around the area and of course, the Adventurers that would come in and out from the entrance. "Ah, a guild. The staple of RPG settings," Neptune had remarked knowingly. Bell had glanced at her with a slightly confused face before he proceeded to this other counter to the side that was covered in this (gold?) wall. Neptune spots a strict-looking guy in a suit standing beside it, most likely acting as a guard. He narrows his eyes when he makes eye contact, making Neptune hurriedly look away uncomfortably ( _'Dude's giving me the evil eye...'_ ).

Bell takes out a small brown pouch from his backpack and lets these small purple fragments that Neptune had seen fall out from that War Shadow earlier drop into this space in the counter. It turned out to be a drawer that quickly shut in and replaced it with coins afterwards (he said "Valis"; is that the currency of this world?), making Neptune's eyes boggle with surprise because oh wow, that cloaked dude by the counter switches things -fast-.

Neptune surmises that the counter is like the equivalent of a bank in this world, seeing as this is where money is exchanged. It's no wonder that the security is tight.

Bell says a "thank you" as he picks up the coins and stores them away in the same brown pouch, as someone comes to approach.

"Ah, Bell-kun, you've worked hard today as usual."

"Oh, Eina-san!"

A female also dressed in one of those black and white suits was standing before them, glasses adorning her face with short brown hair and pointed ears. She had this mature look to her, but still had youthful features, so she should be older than Bell by a few years. _'No doubt about it, she has the big sister aura,'_ Neptune thinks.

Also, seeing as she had pointed ears, then..."Oooh! An elf character!" It was the first time Neptune had seen one up close. Elf-like characters hadn't really appeared in her series until Noire's spin-off. _'Ergh, figures that Miss Popular Lonely Heart would get to have the privilege of having one in her game first.'_

The woman blinks at Neptune's sudden exclamation. "Ah, Bell-kun, who might your companion be...?"

"Oh, right. Let me introduce you," Bell says, gesturing over to the taller female. "Nep-sama, this is Eina Tulle-san. She's my advisor here in the Guild; she's actually a half-elf. Eina-san, this is Nep-sama. She's a goddess."

The woman now with the name of Eina stares at the smiling girl with surprise. "This girl... is a goddess?" Well, that certainly explained the unusual clothes. Though she looked like an adolescent girl, Eina knew that gods came in all shapes and sizes, so one couldn't judge based on appearances alone. "I-I see... though, what brings a goddess like herself to the Guild?"

"Good ol' Bell-kun here found me in the dungeon in the Baby-whatchamacallit tower. I got transported there from my dimension," Neptune replies cheerfully.

"Since Nep-sama says she came from another dimension, she doesn't know much about Orario yet, so I'm letting her accompany me," Bell adds.

"A-another dimension, you say..." Eina was desperately trying to contain the incredulity that was starting to seep into her voice. They were treating the situation so casually! Bell already looked like he accepted the fact that the girl was some deity from another world, without questioning the ridiculousness of the statement! For all Eina knew, she could be tricking Bell by claiming she was a goddess and had hidden ulterior motives. There are many people out there who would take advantage of Bell's nice personality, so she can't help but worry. That was what the paranoia within Eina was saying, but then again, she doesn't sense any malicious intent coming from the girl (her eyes seemed way too -bright- and way too -honest-), and perhaps this whole "dimension travel" thing was simply another divine-related matter that was far too otherworldly for her to comprehend...? The nature of the gods and their ways of living were on a different level as far as Eina knew.

"...I-I see, that's very considerate of you, Bell-kun. But, you mentioned that she recently arrived here, right? Does she have a place to stay?"

Neptune crosses her arms and looks down on the floor in contemplation. "Hmm, didn't think of that..."

"I'd recommend an inn for you, but knowing that you don't have any Valis..." Eina starts to say.

Seeing the troubled looks on both of the girls' faces, a thought comes to Bell's mind, and he speaks up. "Ah... maybe, would you like to stay at our place...?"

This makes them face him in surprise at his suggestion. "Eh, really?" Neptune asks.

"W-well, it's just that the place we are living in might not be the most ideal kind of location..." Bell tries to explain.

But Neptune just nods her head eagerly. "Nah, you're the one who's letting me stay over! That's good enough for me!"

"Is your goddess going to be okay with letting a stranger be living with you two?" Eina tells him.

 _'Right, there's still Kami-sama's opinion...'_ "It's only just Kami-sama and I who are living in our home, so there should be more than enough space for another person. Nep-sama is really in need of shelter, so I can't just leave her alone like this..." Bell replies.

Neptune looks upon him with shining eyes filled with admiration. "Oh, Bell-kun! You nice guy, you! If anything, -you're- god-sent!"

As Bell rubs the back of his head sheepishly at Neptune's comment, Eina folds her arms across her chest and gives him a bemused smile. "Honestly, Bell-kun, you're too nice. But, well, that's your decision, so you're going to have to take responsibility for it." Her tone had a light scolding manner to it, but the understanding was present. _'Yep, definitely the big sister type,'_ Neptune thinks. Bell responded to her words by straightening his posture and saying a firm "Y-yes!".

Eina smiles and gives a small 'hm' of approval. She then turns her gaze towards Neptune and takes note of her dirty appearance. "Well, before you two get going, I think it's best if you let ah, 'Nep-sama', is it—take a bath to clean herself up." Her words make Neptune glance down at her body. Right, she was still covered with dirt and scrapes from her earlier mishap in the Dungeon. Eina then leans forward with scrutinizing eyes at Bell's direction. "You look like you could use a bath yourself, Bell-kun. With all the Adventurer work you do, you can't forget to look after cleaning your body. Hygiene is very important!"

"Y-yes..." Bell responds with his head drooped down low.

After thanking Eina for her advice and bidding her farewell, the two leave the Guild. Before the two could get on their way, Neptune accompanied Bell in one of the market stalls as he had to buy their meals for dinner. Well, for a definition of 'dinner'. As much as Bell wanted to buy some meat (since he felt the need to at least feed a goddess like Neptune some decent food), sadly the money he had on now wouldn't be able to make the cut, so he ended up buying more bread again, inwardly promising to stuff it with as much ingredients like maybe cheese in it (oh wait they might still have some jam left over too, they could use that) so the taste wouldn't be too plain.

While in the middle of doing his groceries, Bell remembers that since Neptune will be staying with them, and they'll be having dinner, she'll need a toothbrush to brush her teeth afterwards, right? He and Kami-sama already have theirs, he should buy one for Nep-sama too. He remembers Eina's words about Neptune needing a bath, so he buys another towel for her to use.

He bought the tootbrush for about 25 Valis, the towel for 150 Valis. They were both very cheap, it was the same kind he and Kami-sama used. He would've bought something better, but that was all he could afford for now...

* * *

After finishing what needed to be bought, Bell starts to lead Neptune to their home, as in, the current place where she'll be staying from now on. Neptune noticed that they were walking farther away from the bustling streets and heading into a quieter part of town where there seemed to be less people. One would have immediately gotten suspicious with the rather isolated location he was taking her, but Neptune was completely sure that Bell was a nice person and the thought of him doing anything weird to her hadn't crossed her mind one bit.

They slip through a bunch of narrow corners in the alley, and eventually arrive at an area where Neptune can promptly sum up was a "ruin" due to the broken remains and slabs of concrete scattered about the path. Just before they could enter the building, Bell had paused and turned to face Neptune in concern. "Um, Nep-sama, so this kind of place—"

"So... is this your Basilicom?"

Bell blinks in surprise, caught off-guard by Neptune's sudden question and unusual term she had used. But he slowly replies, "Ah, yes, this church is..." Bell could only mutter out a few words in response as Neptune dashes past him and into the church's aisle.

"Wow, this place looks ancient! Oh, hey, at least tell me you've got a toilet in here! I feel like I gotta go!" He could hear her yelling from inside.

"Ah, yes, the bathroom's over by the room in the back—"

The bathroom was predictably in the same dilapidated state as the building was, but Neptune's just glad there was an actual toilet bowl. Bell told her that there's a cloth she could use to cover the toilet seat if she ever wants to do her business. There was a shower right next to the toilet, covered by an old-looking, worn-out curtain. While she was busy examining the bathroom, Bell reaches out an arm through the door with the towel he had bought earlier, telling her that she can go ahead and take a bath first, to which Neptune happily received with a quick "Thankies!".

* * *

"Taking a bath, taking a bath~" Neptune hummed to herself, scrubbing her body with soap (she was thankful that they had liquid soap, otherwise it would've been weird if she had to use somebody else's soap).

Meanwhile, while waiting for his turn in the bath, Bell was seated on the couch, counting the Valis he had earned for the day.

 _'Okay, so I earned 3,500 Valis today, and I spent 980 Valis for the bread, with an additional 25 and 150 Valis for the toothbrush and towel respectively... so that still leaves me with 2,345 Valis!'_

To others, Bell worrying about money savings might not seem much, but for a humble Adventurer such as him, budgets were -serious business-.

"Baaaaaaath~"

He glances at the direction of the bathroom with an amused smile. _'Nep-sama is a very cheerful person.'_

Minutes later, Neptune came out from the bathroom, fully dressed and drying her hair with the towel.

"Hey, Bell-kun! Does your goddess have a comb or brush I can use?"

Bell freezes up on the spot, panic starting to come over his features. "...Aaah! I completely forgot to buy a comb for Nep-sama!"

"Nah, it's fine, I'm not that conscious of sharing combs," Neptune replies. "I mean, your goddess doesn't have nits or bacteria on her head, does she?" Her tone was light, but blunt; Bell could get that even though most people would find her words offensive, she was just saying things as it is. He could sense that she was a person who spoke what was on her mind, Bell thinks with a light sweatdrop.

He shakes those thoughts away, shaking his actual head while he was at it. "No, it's not proper! Please wait here! I'll come back and buy you one!"

"Ah, but you don't have to—"

But he was already out the door.

Bell came back later, a comb in hand while looking out of breath. He looked like he ran a marathon or something! As it turns out, he had dashed all the way into town and back. It took him a total of 15 minutes, holy smoly, just how fast was he?, was what Neptune was thinking. Still, it was very considerate of him, so she praised him for his efforts.

 _'And that's minus 185 Valis, so now there's 2,160.'_

* * *

The sun had finally set, their hairs fully combed and fully dry, and the two were currently eating supper with the meals (bread) that Bell had prepared on the (only) small table in the room, sitting on this couch. Bell had put away his brown coat and black backpack and was only wearing his black clothes underneath. _'Black clothes and white hair... is he going for a monochrome look?,'_ Neptune wonders.

While chewing a piece of bread in her mouth, Neptune looks around the room, as if looking for something. "Hey, you said you live here with your goddess, right? Where is she?" Her voice had ended up being slightly muffled with the chewing she was doing. "Ah, is she that statue over by the altar?" For all Neptune knew, maybe their goddesses were different in this world too.

Bell shakes his head with bemusement. "No, Kami-sama was invited to a banquet and left this morning. She won't be back for a few days."

"Hmmm, she didn't take you along?" Neptune asks.

"Those kind of parties are only exclusive to the gods. A human like me isn't allowed to come," Bell replies. There was something rather deprecating to his last words, but Neptune chose not to dwell on it at the moment.

"Is that so... well, either way, I'd like to meet up with your goddess soon and see what she's like! She must be a really interesting person since she lives in a place like this!" Neptune says.

"Ah... about that... Kami-sama didn't originally live here. She recently came down from Heaven. But she's not a very well-known goddess, so she wasn't able to obtain shelter on her own... Kami-sama's friend was the one who let her stay in this church," Bell explains.

Her friend must have dumped this place on her as a last method... why does Neptune get that kind of feeling, she wonders..."Ohh, is that the case? I'd have to say you're pretty dedicated, seeing as you're still staying with her until now."

"Kami-sama reached out to me when I was alone... and I have always been grateful for that. Even if it's only just the two of us right now, I like to think that we're still growing...! I know that someday our [Familia] will become bigger...! So until then, I'll keep working hard!" Bell says with impassioned emotions.

Neptune can't stop the smile that's forming on her face. "Aw, you -are- dedicated! I can totally feel your passion." Neptune then raises a finger. "Ah, but don't you mean three?"

"'Three'...?" Bell asks in confusion.

"Yeah, you just said there's only two of you. Now that I'm here, there's three of us!" Neptune explains to him as if she was a teacher giving a lesson to a student. "I'll try to become the best third-wheeler that I can be! See, it's already growing!"

Bell looks at her with comically glistening eyes as if he's about to burst into tears right then and there. "Nep-sama...!" He didn't know what a "third-wheeler" was, but he's still immensely touched.

 _'Ah, I knew it, he's the sensitive type,'_ Neptune thinks with an amused grin. Then her expression shifts to an inquiring one. "Speaking of which, what's that 'Familia' thing you just said?"

Bell snaps out of his emotional moment and recomposes himself. "Ah, right. A [Familia] is a faction under ownership of a god. Most Familias are composed of exploration-type factions, meaning that their purpose is to explore the Dungeon, though there are others that are involved in businesses, industries, medicine and even Familias that are composed of an entire nation. Kami-sama is the head of this Familia, the [Hestia Familia]."

"Oohh, so her name's Hestia," Neptune remarks thoughtfully.

Bell nods. "Yes. ...Though, we are still starting out, that's why our living conditions are still like this... Nep-sama, I know what you said earlier, but are you really comfortable in living in a place like this?"

"Ehh, you still want to ask me that now, of all times?" Neptune asks dismissively. "I should be saying the same thing to you, Bell-kun. Do you like living in this crumbling old building?"

"Eh?" He has often wished that he could give Kami-sama a better home to live in, but..."I'll admit that the first few weeks that we spent here weren't easy. There was a lot of adjusting we had to do, but the times I spend with Kami-sama are fun... so if I had to say, at the moment I'm actually content with this kind of lifestyle..."

Neptune flops her back onto the couch. "Then see, there's no problem! I'm totally okay with it, too! If anything I should be the one who owes you, seeing as you're the one who's letting me stay and everything!" Then she straightens from her seat, facing Bell with a mixture of seriousness and intrigue. "After all, we just met today. And you're willing to let me live with you?"

"Well, um... I guess that's because..." Bell starts to say, already rubbing the back of his head. "...I know Nep-sama is a good person? And as a man, I wouldn't live it down if I couldn't help a girl..."

Neptune stares. _'That kind of reasoning...'_ "As expected of a nice guy protag! How typical! Ahaha!"

Bell's face starts to grow red in embarrassment while Neptune continues to laugh. Maybe his reasons were too cliché? He admits that most of his values came from the stories of heroes his grandfather used to tell him...

"Well, mister nice guy protagonist! I, Neptune [insert last name here], extend my deepest gratitude to your niceness!" Then her smile grows softer; less teasing, "Thank you. I'll be in your care!"

 _'Ah... that's it. Someone who smiles like that can't possibly be a bad person.'_ Bell returns a smile of his own. "Yes!"

After finishing dinner, the two brush their teeth (the toothbrushes here looked like these cute little paintbrushes ooh it's so different from modern toothbrushes, Neptune notes), and decide to call it a day.

"You sure you wanna sleep at the couch?" Neptune asks, standing by the bed. "The bed's big enough for two people, so we can share!"

"N-no, it's okay! I'm used to it! There's no need for you to worry, Nep-sama!" Bell answers hurriedly as he positions himself on the couch. Though the lights had been turned off, Neptune could tell that his face was slightly red. The color was rather easy to spot due to its contrast with his albino hair.

Yep, he was definitely a 100% nice guy. It was an overused trait when it came to protagonists, but still a likable trait nevertheless. For a boy like Bell, it made him seem more innocent, Neptune thinks with a smile.

"Well, g'night!" Neptune says as she flops into the bed face-first.

"Good night, Nep-sama," Bell answers as he places his blanket over his body. He lies down on the couch, staring at the ceiling, before he eventually drifts off to sleep.

Tomorrow would be another day; another usual dungeon exploration.

But he finds comfort that when he wakes up the next morning, he won't be alone.

* * *

 **Some trivia:**

 _ **Nepronunciation**_ **\- Neptune's name in Romaji is apparently "Neputūnu" (or even "Neputyūnu" according to Wikipedia) instead of "Nepūchun", so perhaps the difference in pronunciation is why others can't pronounce Neptune's name right. Then again, everyone can pronounce the name "Planeptune" just fine, so it's most likely some running gag. And I'm probably just overthinking things. Bleh.**

 ** _Double Bell_ \- While we're at it, Vert's name in Romaji is "Beru", the same as Bell's name when pronounced in Japanese; "Beru".**

 ** _Spare toothbrush, towel and brush_ \- It's apparently not very hygienic to share one's towel and brush/comb (toothbrush is naturally out of the question) with other people due to the risk of catching bacteria or other diseases. So Bell's concern is natural, Neptune! No matter how nonchalant you are, this is hygiene we're talking about here!**

* * *

Not much action here, it's mostly exposition, so sorry if this chapter's kinda boring. But hey, you can't expect Neptune to be running around with absolutely zero knowledge of the DanMachi world, right? Oh, and rest assured, the constant appearances of bread here isn't because of my status as a bread lover, but a legit European lifestyle!

I get the feeling that I might have unnecessarily gave importance to the living conditions of the Hestia Familia. But realistically speaking, it's a ruined church! Living in such an abandoned place must be covered in a whole lot of dust and dirt, and I can't imagine that someone would immediately be comfortable living in that kind of environment. ...Then again, this is only an anime, and therefore not associated with reality, so who knows. Maybe Hestia's applying some power to the entire place to ensure that it's always clean or something?

Ah, and I'm going by the light novel's pace, so I might mention some things that will confuse those who haven't read it yet. Neptune's appearance takes place when Hestia had gone out to the banquet. They ended up skipping what Bell did during those three days, so I figured I'd use this opportunity to use those days for more bonding moments, yeah! As you can see, this is only the first day so far.

And ugh, I'm not sure if I wrote everyone in character. EERGH NO I HATE OOC-NESS DAAARGH

...I should go now.


	3. Getting the Hang of Things

**_xdexthekillerx: _** Thank you! Glad to hear you're enjoying the story!

 ** _cybresamurai:_ ** Oh, does this mean I was able to portray her in character? Phew, that's good. And you picked up on her human state! That's quick. As for Neptune gathering faith... I don't expect it to be easy, since it'd require having someone genuinely believe she's a goddess, which kinda seems unbelievable at the moment since Neptune's back to being a human again. Just like the Ultradimension, haha.

 ** _Raiden312:_ ** Ooh, I love long reviews. Yeah, as for me, I perceive Neptune as someone who's actually a lot smarter (and reliable) than she looks or acts most of the time, it's just that she's too lazy to do things herself and prefers to let someone else do it. Neptune in the anime is a lot more serious compared to her other versions (her personality in Victory II is rather similar though), but yes, once Hestia comes in I imagine things will get more lively, ahaha. Oh, and yes, you have managed to point out in regards to obtaining her HDD form, since that needs true faith, and as of the moment it's only Bell who's willing to believe that. Still, good to know I was able to make everyone in character!

 ** _Shirosaki Kizuro: _** To both of your responses, yeah, Bell's purpose is to get stronger, so he's going to need a lot of training done. And thank you for your interest in the story!

 ** _Mo Eazy:_ ** Nah, it's fine, I don't force people to review since I myself am prone to feeling lazy in making reviews, haha. But whoa, really? I didn't notice that! Lol, at least I managed to make you laugh somehow?

 ** _peddy-kun: _** Yep, once again, thanks for correcting me on that one! I really appreciate it for pointing out my mistake, otherwise things would've dreadfully been out of canon.

Right, so before I get this chapter started, I'd like to point out a couple of things I edited in the previous chapter. After much contemplation, I let Neptune refer to Bell as "Bell-kun" instead, since his name really is too similar-sounding with Vert's in Japanese. And Neptune's always aware of everything, after all, even when it comes to Japanese pronunciations! Also, fixed that error with the whole shower thing (thanks to **peddy-kun** for pointing that out) since showers and technology do exist in DanMachi. I just forgot about it. Bleh.

Anyway, I meant what I said when I was serious about not expecting people to give attention to this story, but what I expected was a cruddy chapter that no one would notice turned out to be my phone blaring at me with notifications in the morning. You people frighten me. And for a good reason! Thanks to the people who faved/followed! And special thanks to ** Rawrko** for beta-ing this!

 **DISCLAIMER: No, if I actually owned DanMachi or Neptunia, I would have made a crossover between these two happen in real life.**

* * *

 **CHAPTER 3:**

 **Time For Some Dungeon Exploring!**

* * *

The sound of rustling movement was what made Neptune stir.

Neptune peeks an eye open, groggily sitting up from her spot in the bed.

"Oh, Nep-sama, good morning," Bell greets to her. He was surprisingly dressed already, as he was wearing his brown coat.

"Bell-kun...? You're already awake...?" Neptune mumbles out.

"Ah, yes! Today I would like to get an early start in the Dungeon!" Bell answers with an eager smile. Because the day before, Kami-sama wanted him to rest due to the injuries he had obtained. But they both knew he simply wouldn't allow himself to sit around and do nothing, and seeing that his injuries weren't too serious, she had allowed him to go. Though, as to not force his body while it was still recovering, he had rested a bit, and by the time he had gotten out it was already noon. This time, he wants to start early. And his body seems to have fully recovered already, so everything should be fine; he can get back to his usual schedule again.

Neptune stares at him with half-lidded eyes. _'He's so enthusiastic... and it's still early in the morning...'_ This was a fair time to start the day, it should've been around 7-8 AM or so, but for Neptune, renowned slacker as she was, wasn't used to waking up at this time of hour. Nepgear admittedly spoiled her into waking up at much later hours, much to Histoire's displeasure, but hey, at least she's not as bad as Plutia when it came to sleeping.

"There's some toast you can eat, Nep-sama. Oh, but if you want to re-heat it, then you can just use the stove to—ah, Nep-sama, do you know how to use the stove? You—" Neptune raises a hand to get him to stop.

"Yeah, s'okay. I know how to use one," she says. Even for someone as supposedly lazy as her, she does know how to operate kitchen appliances. It just so happens that it's Nepgear and Compa who touch it most of the time. Mustering enough energy to resist the urge to go back and sleep, Neptune rubs her eyes as if to rub the drowsiness off, and focuses her gaze on Bell. "You're already leaving?"

"Ah, yes," Bell replies, having just picked up his backpack. "I've eaten my portion of breakfast, so you don't need to worry about that, Nep-sama." After wearing his armor (more like light pieces of armor, really; it must be a miracle how he's managed to survive the Dungeon with only small sets of armor like those), he starts to strap on his backpack. "I won't be back until later in the evening, so in the meantime, feel free to make yourself at home."

Neptune watches Bell as he heads on over to the door. Was she going to be staying here? All day? The idea of not doing any work would've normally sounded great to her, but if she was back in her dimension, she'd be using her free time to be playing [video] games. Or bothering (she preferred the term "visiting") the other goddesses, or just goofing off in general (she calls it "taking a break", but Histoire knew better).

But she was in a new dimension now. She still wasn't entirely familiar with the place (the city of Orario, was it?), nor does she know anyone other than Bell and his advisor.

Not to mention that this dimension was less technologically advanced than Planeptune (or Gamindustri for that matter). So that meant no television...

...And no gaming consoles...

...And no gaming consoles meant...

 **-NO GAMES-**.

So basically: she doesn't know the city, she doesn't know many people, and she has **-NO GAMES-**.

...It was obvious. Unless she does something else, Neptune was going to die of boredom!

She needs something! Anything to cope!

(There were books in the room, but reading was more of Blanc's character trait).

Bell had just placed his hand at the doorknob when Neptune says, "Wait! I'm coming with you!"

He pauses by the door and turns to face Neptune with confusion. "Eh? Nep-sama?"

"I'm gonna go, I'm gonna go!" is what Neptune responds with, untangling herself from the bedsheets and getting out of the bed. "Seriously, don't just leave me here! I'm going to die if I don't do anything!"

Bell remains standing in his confused position by the door, as he processes her words and his eyes widen. "...Nep-sama, you want to come with me to the Dungeon?"

Neptune nods. "Yep!"

"But—" Neptune raises another hand to interrupt.

"No need for you to bring out your main character speech of worry. I'm used to fighting monsters, so it's no big deal!"

And admittedly, Neptune wants to help out Bell. He's a pretty hardworking guy. Seeing the kind of lifestyle they're living, it's obvious he must be doing all he can just to support this Familia. On top of that, he braves that Dungeon every day all by himself. What kind of main character would she be if she -didn't- help?

"...Nep-sama, you know how to fight?" Bell asks her in confirmation.

Neptune merely walks up to him, places her hands on her hips, and shoots him a confident grin. "Hm-hm, don't underestimate me! I may look like a delicate young girl, but I can kick some hardcore monster butt!"

* * *

"Um... Nep-sama... Are you really sure?"

They were currently walking along the streets, on their way to the Dungeon. Bell was clutching the straps of his bag in a worried manner, sporting an equally hesitant face. Neptune was walking beside him, smiling as if nothing was wrong.

When he had seen the confidence in her eyes, Bell had felt so awed that he agreed immediately... only to find out later on (confirming his worries) that she possessed no weapons whatsoever.

"No worries! I can just use my physical strength! I'm not used to fighting with my fists, but I'll manage somehow!" Neptune tells him with a reassuring smile. But that only served to deepen his worry. _'Is this going to be okay?'_ He wails internally. They had already walked some distance away, so it was too late to turn back now...

 _'For some reason, I can't summon my katana...'_ Neptune thinks to herself. _'So unless I find something else to fight with for now, I'm gonna have to...'_

Out of the corner of her eye, she spots something in one of the market stalls that makes her stop in place. Bell notices this and also pauses beside her.

"What's wrong, Nep-sama?"

"Ah, wait, gimme a sec," Neptune answers, as she approaches an old man standing up with a cloth with various weapons and items spread out on it in front of him. He was holding what seemed to be a piece of wood in his hands.

"Hey, mister old guy!" Neptune calls out to get his attention. As he faces her with a perplexed expression on his face at her sudden presence, she points to the piece of wood he's holding and asks, "Is that sword yours?"

Bell, who had caught up to her, also comes to stare at the wooden item. "Eh? That's a sword?" He never would have expected that a piece of lumber like this would be a weapon...

"You've got a keen eye, young lady. This is a wooden sword," the old man replies, slightly shifting his grip on the wooden sword to get a better angle. "...But, ah, this is an item I don't plan on selling anymore. I received this from a transaction I had a few days back, but nobody seems to be interested in buying a weapon made out of wood. So, I'd figure I'll just put it over at the trash bin."

"You're throwing it away? That's such a waste! If you want, I can take it off your hands!" Neptune tells him.

The old man's eyebrows rise in surprise at her words, and Bell could be seen staring at Neptune with a look of his own surprise as well.

"You want this thing?" the old man asks her.

Neptune nods. "You bet I do! How much does it cost?"

Bell looked like he was starting to mentally calculate the Valis he'd have to spend again, when the old man glances at Neptune with the eager smile on her face and back at the wooden sword. "...Tell you what. I'll give it to you. Free of charge."

His words make Neptune's and Bell's eyes widen. "Eh?!" They both blurt out at the same time.

The old man holds out the weapon to Neptune, who accepts it in her hands with still that confused expression. "You're just going to give it to me just like that?"

The old man shrugs. "Meh, I didn't have much use for it anyway. It just happened to be an extra item that was thrown in the deal. I only tried to sell it to see if I could earn some more money with it along the way, but since no one's interested, I'm willing to let you have it."

Both Neptune and Bell's mouths grow in a shape of a large "O", with an "Oohh!" sound accompanying it.

"Thanks so much! You're the best, old man!" Neptune tells him happily.

"Just think of this as a gift from me to a cute little girl as yourself," the old man replies in a joking manner. _'Huh, that reminds me of how my grandfather would act...'_ Bell thinks to himself as he gazes at the old shopkeeper with a nostalgic smile. But that smile gets quickly wiped off his face when the old man comes to stare at Bell with a critical eye, making him jump slightly on the spot. "...You know, when I get a good look at you... aren't you that boy who ran around the town with blood on his face?"

"Eh?" Bell blinks momentarily in confusion, before he recalls the memory of said event and feels the embarrassment creep onto his face. "W-well, that was...!"

"You got blood on some of my merchandise, you know! Had to clean it, since I can't be selling bloodstained items!" the old man says in an accusatory tone.

"A-ah, well... I-I'll pay for it..." Bell eventually replies gloomily. _'Nooo... All this Valis... wasted...'_

But the old man merely lets out a huff as he crosses his arms. "Bah, whatever. There's no need to. Not like you damaged them or anything." At his words, the gloom on Bell's face fades away and his face lights up. "'Sides, you're one of 'em young Adventurers, prone to doing stupid stuff every now and then. That's nothing new to me." And then he becomes embarrassed again.

Neptune merely laughs at the scene that had unfolded before her. "Haha, you're a pretty cool old guy!" She throws the old man a thumbs-up, which he happily returned with a grin as they eventually give their farewells to each other.

"What a nice old man," Bell remarks as they walk.

"Yeah, that's our main character's luck for you! At least now I've got a weapon I can use!" Neptune says, raising the wooden sword in the air.

"Still though, I was really surprised when you had suddenly approached that old man. I never would have thought of you as someone who was into wooden weapons, Nep-sama," Bell comments.

"I think wooden swords are pretty cool! There's just something that adds to their 'awesome factor', you know?" Neptune replies enthusiastically. "I used to start off with a wooden sword back in my dimension, so this really brings some memories to me." Neptune smiles as she gazes at the sword as if recalling past memories, then puts out the sword in front of her. "Okay then, time to place it in my inventory!"

She stares at the wooden sword, expecting it to vanish any moment now.

It doesn't.

Neptune stares—no, more like starts to glare at the sword as she tightens her grip on it.

"Erm... Nep-sama? Do you want to go to the bathroom...?" Bell asks her discreetly (they were in public after all, such things must be asked delicately for a girl!).

"Huh? No. Why're you asking?" Neptune asks.

"Well, it's just that..." 'Your face looks rather constipated' is what he wanted to say, but he went with the more polite approach: "You have this intense look on your face."

"Oh, sorry. It's just that I was trying to store the sword in my inventory," Neptune replies, to which Bell gave another one of his confused looks in response.

Seeing that nothing was happening, Neptune stares at the sword she held in her hand, and realization comes to sink into her mind again.

Gamindustri was a world that ran on data and codes. Everything was composed of a data system that enabled everyone to store information and items at their convenience.

...Basically, it ran on a gaming system, yeah.

One's stats, items, equipment, and other miscellaneous information could be accessed anytime—anywhere. So naturally, this was how they would put away their weapons without going through the trouble of lugging it around all the time. That was tiring. And such a hassle. Especially for the people who loved to wield gigantic weapons.

But now, she has to remember she was in a new dimension. A different world, with different laws and principles of how the world worked.

So that meant the mechanics of Gamindustri don't apply here. No weapon summoning, no infinite inventory... Nope. Everything must be carried.

And that also means she'd have to carry her weapon around with her like an ordinary person.

 _'Uuuuuuggggggghhhh...'_

Of course, Neptune did not hesitate to express her thoughts out loud.

"Uuuuuuggggggghhhh...''

"Nep-sama? Is something wrong?" Bell was looking even more worried now.

Neptune releases a sigh, before waving a hand at him dismissively with a tired smile. "Nah, it's nothing. Just lamenting about the fact that I'm gonna have to be doing a lot of physical effort from now on..."

* * *

And so, the two arrived at the Dungeon, going the same way they had gone when they exited from it the previous day.

"So, what's the plan?" Neptune asks, staring out into the dark blue colored area they were in (the lights weren't green this time, as Neptune had noticed the other day when they were going up the floors; Bell had explained to her that the lights and surroundings of the Dungeon differ depending on the floor level).

"What I do is I try to make my way as deep as possible; to the floors I can handle of course. For now, the deepest I've managed to reach is until the 6th floor... But I'll admit, I haven't fully explored the 6th floor yet. I've only managed until the 5th floor yesterday. So for today, I'd like to go until the 6th floor if I can," Bell explains.

"Alrighty! I'll be sure to give you support and stuff!" Neptune tells him, sword (wood) gripped in her hand.

As the two proceed further into the Dungeon, hoping to reach the 2nd floor, the sound of the walls cracking alert them to the monsters that were beginning to spawn. Bell brings out his dagger, and Neptune readies her sword (wood).

 _'Huh, they seem a lot slower...'_ Neptune notices, as the small green monsters were slowly emerging from the wall. _'It's those Goblins again! Okay, I'll deal with them this time!'_

Neptune rushes forward as one Goblin comes running at her, and with one swing of her sword, she lops its head right off, dark red liquid spraying out from it.

 _'Whooa! She managed to slice off its head! With a wooden sword!'_ Bell stares in awe, just having finished off a Goblin of his own. Frankly, he was amazed. For a wooden weapon, it was expected to deal only blunt physical attacks, but somehow Neptune had managed to actually cut off its head! He had no doubts about her now. Her stance and movement... it was very well-executed. The signs of an experienced fighter.

"Um, Nep-sama...?"

Despite her victory, Neptune was standing still, wooden sword gripped in both of her hands, the confident grin on her face looking rather strained. She remained frozen in her battle pose, until her brain finally processed that what had gushed out from the Goblin was nothing other than -blood-.

"...Eeeeeyaaaah! Blood! There's blood!" Neptune shrieks, starting to flail about.

"Nep-sama?!" Concerned, Bell rushes over to her side, slashing at the other Goblin with his dagger that happened to be approaching the distracted Neptune. He examines her body, and finds no trace of injury. She had taken care of that Goblin in one strike, he saw it with his own eyes. So what was she panicking about...?

"Nep-sama, what's wrong?" he asks worriedly.

"B-b-blood! There was actual blood!" Neptune responds in a horrified tone.

Bell looked on in confusion. Her entire form looked like she was very skilled... but she's frightened at the sight of blood? "Nep-sama... Have you not fought monsters before?"

Neptune shakes her head. "No, I have! It's just that... none of them ever had blood come out from them..." Monsters in Gamindustri were all made out of data. When they were defeated, they'd also return to data. So she's -definitely- not used to witnessing a monster die like this.

Ah, it must be related to her dimension again, Bell thinks. Monsters in their world must not have the same kind of deaths as the monsters they have here.

"Well then, Nep-sama, allow me," Bell says, crouching down at the fallen Goblins at Neptune's side. Neptune stares after him with confusion in her eyes, before promptly freaking out again when he uses his dagger to tear at one of the Goblin's flesh and digging through its chest.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! What're you doing!?"

"Nep-sama, a monster's heart, or core, is a Magic Stone," Bell explains, holding it up for her to see. With the Magic Stone from its chest removed, the Goblin's corpse dissipates into ashes and fades away.

Neptune's eyes widen at the sight, pointing out at the body that had just disappeared. "That! Yeah, that's how monsters in my dimension are supposed to go! Not into a bloody mess!"

"Because Magic Stones are the monster's source of life, once it's taken out, their body breaks down along with it too," Bell explains, placing the purple-colored crystal in his pouch. He then moves on to the other Goblin, digging away at its chest again with his dagger.

"Don't you find it... gross?" Neptune asks with discomfort. He was tearing at the monster's chest with a straight face, despite the blood that was pooling out from its chest...

"...Yes, the first time I did this... I was very uncomfortable too," Bell replies (he had ended up crying and puking about it, but that was a story that didn't need to be disclosed about...). "But eventually, I got used to it. Magic Stones are needed after all, and as an Adventurer, doing these kind of things are normal."

Neptune, her disgust and discomfort slightly wearing off, leans down a bit to get a closer look at the Magic Stone that he dug out from the Goblin's chest. "I noticed it's pretty small compared to the one that War Shadow dropped... Do Magic Stones depend on the monster size too?"

"Oh, right, this is actually a [Magic Stone Fragment]. Monsters of this floor level until the 4th come with Magic Stones of this size. And yes, depending on how strong the monster is, the size of the Magic Stones vary. The bigger the Magic Stone, the more money the Guild will pay," Bell tells her.

"What's so important about these Magic Stones, anyway?" Neptune asks in curiosity.

"Magic Stones are used for our technology. They're a valuable resource. The [Magic Stone Lamp], stoves and freezers we have at home are products that are powered by the Magic Stone," Bell explains.

"Ohhh yeah. You mean like the showers that were used and had to be edited by the author," Neptune comments in understanding.

 _'Once again, she said something I don't understand...'_ Bell thinks with a sweatdrop. But he continues with his explanation. "The Guild collects these Magic Stones since they're the ones who provide it for other companies and help export it to other regions as well."

 _'Hmm, so in other words, it's like their version of electricity...'_ Neptune muses. _'Oh, wait, since it's responsible for technology, then...!'_ "Hey, Bell-kun! Do they also make gaming consoles?"

"'Gaming consoles'...?" Bell repeats in confusion.

"Yeah, like, do you have TVs?" Neptune asks eagerly.

Bell stays silent for a few seconds in deep thought before an apologetic look comes to his face. "I'm sorry... I don't think we have those..."

Neptune's head droops down in disappointment. _'So much for that hope...'_ "Oh, well. That's too bad..."

"Anyway, Nep-sama." Bell stands up, having finished collecting the Magic Stones from the Goblins and puts away his pouch. "I'll be the one to take the Magic Stones from the monsters. I know that you're not very comfortable with it."

"Hmm... Basically, Magic Stones are from monsters' chests, right?" Neptune suddenly asks.

"Yes," Bell replies with a nod, slightly confused. He's pretty sure he explained it earlier...

Neptune looks to be contemplating about something, before her expression takes in on that determined look again, pumping a fist. "All right then! I'll just have to go for their chests! That way, I won't have to dig them out myself!"

"Eh...? Nep-sama, you're going to push through with it?" Bell asks in surprise.

"Yep! Can't leave it all to you after all! I'd feel bad! It's only my first time to see blood spurt out from monsters anyway, so I'm sure I'll get used to it eventually if I keep doing it!" Neptune replies cheerfully.

True to her words, Neptune spent most of her time slicing at monsters' chests as they proceeded further into the Dungeon. It saved her from going through the effort of digging out the Magic Stones herself as they would drop out easier, and ensured a quicker (less bloodier) death, as they would fade into ashes immediately. The sight of blood still made Neptune rather queasy, but as they progressed further she'd managed to tolerate it somehow. She learned that monsters also were able to leave items after fading into ashes, which were called [Drop Items]. Not unlike the monsters of her dimension, Neptune thought. As she would do battle, she would note which monsters spawn on each floor.

They continued their descent until they reached the 6th floor, as Bell wanted. The War Shadows were expectantly tough. But thankfully, with their combined efforts, Bell and Neptune were able to take care of them without many issues. Since they were monsters that held no actual physical form, Neptune was a lot more comfortable in engaging them. After clearing out most of the monsters on that floor, Bell deems that they've managed to accomplish what they needed to do for the day, and proceeded to go back to the entrance the long, hard way. Neptune still wasn't used to it; she would keep whining every once in a while, and Bell would try to pacify her irritation with conversations or the snacks he had brought for their exploration (admittedly, the food he had brought was only enough for one person, since he wasn't expecting Neptune to be coming along with him... But hey, that was what sharing was all about).

* * *

 _'T-t-twelve thousand Valis...'_ Bell stares at the amount of coins in his pouch with (exaggerated) trembling hands in disbelief.

This was the first time he had earned so much in one day!

 _'Could this be because I had a partner with me?'_ Bell wonders, glancing at Neptune who was idly examining her wooden sword. Right, he'd been going solo this entire time, so the presence of another party member must have definitely doubled the amount of Magic Stones and dropped items he was able to gather! _'How amazing! Nep-sama is a very skilled sword-user... As expected of a goddess...!'_

"Bell-kun, how goes another day of exploring the Dungeon? Ah, and Nep-sama is here as well." It is Eina who comes to greet them again, coming over to approach them at the couch they were sitting in.

"Ah. Hello, Eina-san," Bell greets back, looking up from his seat.

"'Ey there, Eina-chan!" Eina blinks in surprise at Neptune's greeting. "Eina-chan"? She's addressing her so casually now... Not that she minded. She was just caught off-guard, that's all. She wasn't expecting to be referred that way when they had just met yesterday.

Eina recovers from her surprise and greets the two with a smile. "Right. So, I couldn't help but notice... Bell-kun, you seem to be in high-spirits. Did something happen?"

"Ah, yes, you see...! I managed to earn 12,000 Valis!" Bell tells her excitedly.

Eina's eyes widen at the news. "12,000 Valis...?! How did you come to earn so much...?"

"Nep-sama had helped me in the Dungeon today!" Bell replies.

Eina glances at the ever-smiling purple-haired girl. "Nep-sama did...?"

Bell nods. "Yes! Thanks to her, I was able to gather a lot more than I usually did!"

"Aw, when you praise me so much, I actually get embarrassed," Neptune says as she rubs the back of her head. Despite her words, she actually looks proud of it.

"So... basically, you took Nep-sama with you to the Dungeon," Eina starts to say. There was a rising edge to her voice, making Bell and Neptune stare at her with concern.

"Um, yes, that's exactly what happened..." Bell replies nervously. He knows that tone... due to Eina being his advisor, he's grown accustomed to her behavior, and dreads of what is about to come.

Eina promptly sits down on the couch across them, her mouth settled in a firm line as she crosses her arms over her chest. "Bell-kun. While I am happy to hear you've earned so much today... don't you remember?"

"Remember...?" Bell repeats.

Eina releases a sigh of exasperation. "The Guild's rules, the Guild's rules!" she says, leaning a bit forward with narrowed eyes. "You're not allowed to bring someone who is not an Adventurer into the Dungeon! It's very dangerous! And someone who is supposedly a goddess, at that! Didn't you think things through?!"

Bell seems to have also come upon the realization and starts to slouch over at her words. "A-ah... No..."

Neptune looks back and forth between the suddenly depressed Bell and the scolding Eina ( _'Her manner of scolding is Histy-level! Gasp!'_ ). "Eh? What, what? What's the matter?"

This time, Eina turns her gaze towards Neptune with an apologetic look. "Nep-sama, I don't mean any disrespect... but not just anyone can go into the Dungeon. People have to register themselves as Adventurers if they want to do that. And especially for goddesses like yourself, Nep-sama, you're supposed to be making your own Familia, not joining another one. I had allowed you to stay in their home, but if you plan on actively participating in Dungeon activities then that's another matter entirely."

Neptune only lets out an "Ehhh?" in response in disbelief. So, as a goddess, she can't join another Familia that is already under ownership of a goddess? They can't have more than one goddess in each Familia? So she'll have to make her own one instead?

Go through all the effort of gathering followers from scratch?

But she liked staying with Bell! No way was she going to leave him now!

"I'm sorry, but those are the rules."

"Whoa, hold up!" Neptune interrupts, raising a hand forward, gaining Bell and Eina's surprise. "Before you conclude things, let me test something out."

Abruptly standing up from her seat, Neptune yells out "TRANSFORM!" with a straight face.

Bell stares.

Eina stares.

Everyone in the room was staring at the purple-haired girl who just randomly shouted for seemingly no reason.

A couple of awkward seconds pass, but Neptune doesn't look embarrassed at all and only sits back down with a satisfied look. "Hmph, I knew it."

"Um, what might have you just realized...?" Eina warily asks, still rather bewildered by her actions a few seconds ago.

Neptune crosses her arms with a satisfied grin. "See, I can't transform! So that means I'm not a goddess anymore!"

She had the sneaking suspicion that this would be the case. She already wasn't able to summon her weapons, and having landed in another brand new dimension just like the Ultradimension, it appears she had been stripped of her goddess status yet again.

Might as well acknowledge that fact now, rather than have to realize it at some life-or-death situation and end up being rendered helpless during that moment. That would suck.

And besides, every time she came into a new dimension, it was guaranteed that she'd be unable to transform anyway. Because plot and all that.

Back to the people in the room, Bell and Eina continued to blink at her confusion.

"What do you mean...?" Eina asks.

"Exactly what I said! I'm not a goddess anymore, so you can go ahead and sign me up as a human Adventurer at Bell-kun's Familia," Neptune replies nonchalantly.

Eina puts a hand to her forehead, feeling a headache coming on. So this girl isn't a goddess but is labeling herself as a human now? Which one is it? Was her claim that she was a goddess actually a lie after all? Glancing at Neptune and the decided look in her eyes, Eina lets out a sigh, removes her hand from her forehead and puts on her serious face again.

"...So, I'll get things straight. You basically want to join Bell-kun's Familia, is it?" At Neptune's nod, Eina loosens her serious stance and leans back a bit. "If that was the case, then you should have informed me from the beginning. ...Well, I suppose you are a newcomer—" (whether through supposed "dimension traveling" or not) "—so I'm willing to overlook this."

Bell and Neptune glance at each other briefly, before looking back at Eina with hopeful eyes.

"Uwooh, Eina-chan!"

"Eina-san...!"

"Right, now let's get on with your registration," Eina announces, standing up.

Eina leads Neptune over at the counter and hands her some papers and proceeds to finish up all the necessary paperwork ( _'Ugh, so much like the ones back at home'_ , Neptune had wearily thought to herself).

"All right, you've finished your application as an Adventurer, Neptune-san," Eina announces once all the procedures were done. "However, as of the moment, you are still not an official member of the Hestia Familia. You'll have to wait for the goddess herself to approve of your membership."

Neptune nods to indicate that she was listening, while Bell looks in deep thought. _'Right, I'm going to have to talk with Kami-sama about this...'_

"Also, though you've applied as one, you are still not a full Adventurer, Nep-san. That can only be made possible once the goddess accepts you into their Familia. And as your record states, I will be treating you accordingly as Nep-san the human, and not as Nep-sama the goddess," Eina explains.

Neptune just nods happily, not looking at all bothered by it. "Yeah, whatever you call me is just fine! But now I'm gonna become an Adventurer, right? So that's all good!"

Eina lets out a resigned smile at the girl's enthusiasm and loosens her formal behavior. _'So carefree...'_ "Right, so if I recall, Bell-kun, you told me that your goddess will be out for a few days?"

Bell nods. "Yes, I don't think she'll be out that long... I think she might return either tomorrow or the day after that..."

"Hm, well then, as soon as she comes back, give her these papers. When she's given her approval, return them here so we can make Nep-san's membership official," Eina tells him, handing over the papers to Bell. Then she shifts her gaze towards Neptune, raises a finger and looks at her sternly. "Now Nep-san, please keep in mind that you're still just a pending Adventurer, okay? So please don't do anything reckless in the Dungeon! Am I clear?"

Neptune nods. "Ah, yeah, I got it!" _'It's like with Histy all over again...'_ Was there no escape from stern people?

Eina merely sighs again. "Okay, now that you understand, you're free to go. Bell-kun, look after her, okay?"

"Yes!" Bell agrees with a nod.

After watching the two adolescents leave the Guild, Eina comes to stare at the papers in her hand that contained Neptune's information. That was how she had learned that her full name was actually "Neptune", and that "Nep" was only a nickname Bell chose to go with since he was unable to pronounce her name (for some reason). Normally, if one were a normal human, they are supposed to have a last name as well. However, after a series of terrible last name suggestions later, they inserted some back-story that Neptune was an orphan who had absolutely no clue regarding her family's origins and therefore did not possess a surname.

Most of the information in Neptune's background was actually faked. Since she registered under the race of a human, putting in "coming from another dimension" was far too ridiculous, and she can't use the excuse that she's a goddess, so they picked some convenient location for her hometown instead. Eina can't help but feel guilty that as a member of the Guild, she practically helped someone fake their own records ( _'What would the people of the Guild think?'_ she agonized inwardly). But if it's for a reasonable cause, she's willing to put up with this.

Personally, Eina hopes that the membership will be approved. Her identity aside, that girl, Neptune, genuinely wanted to help Bell. And, Eina admits Bell could use another member in the Familia... He's been doing his Adventurer work alone when Adventurers by this point would normally have formed a group to support each other in the Dungeon (she finds it such a miracle and relief to see that Bell manages to survive somehow). Going solo in a Dungeon was incredibly risky, especially for someone still low-leveled as he is. So having someone else accompany him will ease her worries a bit. And it would prove beneficial to his income too, seeing as the amount of Valis he had obtained today had doubled no doubt thanks to Neptune's assistance.

So, she's willing to give her trust to Neptune on this matter. Once Neptune does become an Adventurer, she's going to need an advisor... and something within Eina makes her want to be the one to volunteer for the task... that Neptune girl looks like someone that would cause a lot of problems if not properly looked after, especially now that she's staying with Bell...

She's going to have to talk with the Guild about that position. Advisors were normally assigned, after all, and not chosen. She's going to be quite busy from now on, it seems...

 _'Now then, there's still that monster issue I have to prepare for the [Ganesha Familia] tomorrow...'_

Yup, definitely busy.

* * *

"By the way, Nep-sama," Bell starts to say during their dinner (he actually had enough money to buy meat this time! Well it was only one piece, but still! Meat!), "when you mentioned that you weren't able to 'transform' anymore, what did you mean by that?"

"Ah, that." Neptune responds dismissively, having just swallowed a piece of meat from her plate. "Well, you've been explaining stuff to me so far, so I guess it's about time I give you some of mine. See, the world I live in, Gamindustri; us goddesses gain our power from the faith of the people."

"Through faith...?"

"Yeah. Through the power of what we call [share energy], we're able to transform into these super sexy versions of ourselves."

Bell lightly sweatdrops at her term. "S-super... 'sexy'...?"

"Yep, that'd be our goddess forms. The me that you see right now," Neptune juts a finger to herself for emphasis, "is my human form. I'm less powerful, but hey, I'm still capable of being bad-ass!"

"But now you can't transform into your goddess form...?" Bell continues to ask.

"Share energy doesn't exist here, by the looks of it, so I can't transform. It happens to me every-time I go into another dimension, so I'm used to it," Neptune replies.

"I see..." is all Bell could comment. "Your type of goddesses are very different from ours, Nep-sama."

"...Actually, if I wanted to, I -can- probably gain access to it if I have more faith," Neptune adds. "But that'd require me to like, get out there and obtain more followers myself. Nobody knows me here, and it's kind of a hassle, so I'm okay with just sticking to my human form, really." Leave it to Neptune and her laziness to be not motivated in doing anything. "So, you really don't have to call me 'Nep-sama' anymore."

"But Nep-sama is Nep-sama," Bell tells her firmly.

Ah, looks like he wholeheartedly believes she was a goddess. That's kinda cute, Neptune thinks with one of her amused smiles again. "You're not going to let up, are you?" The expression on his face tells everything. Hm, guess that'll have to do for now. Maybe at some later point in the future she'll manage to convince him to refer to her in a less formal manner.

The two continue eating their meals again, Neptune stabbing her fork on a piece of meat, thinking how it was finally a nice change of pace to be eating something different other than bread; when another thought suddenly comes to her.

"...Oh, right, there's something I also want to know."

Bell looks up from his plate, taken aback at the utter seriousness on her face that she was showing. "Yes? What is it, Nep-sama?"

"Do you have pudding here?"

Because she needs something to cope with, dang it! Screw no HDD, or constant dimensional travels!

But for pudding...

Bell blinks. _'The question was less serious than I thought..._ ' "Yes, they do sell pudding at some of the shops—"

"YES!" Neptune stands up and pumps a fist in the air—

—"But... from what I know, they're fairly expensive." At least, in regards to their budget.

At those words, Neptune freezes in her pose and her face starts to grow pale from the horror of this reality.

...Okay, that's it! She's definitely going to go all out when it comes to getting money! Kill all those monsters, get Magic Stones, sell a bunch of stuff; she doesn't care!

She will do her best in dungeon explorations!

She will do it all for the sake of pudding!

(Oh, and for the sake of helping Bell and his Familia out—there was that too)

* * *

 **Some trivia:**

 ** _Wooden sword_ \- More specifically, the type of wooden sword Neptune uses is called a "bokken" (or "bokuto" as it's known in Japan), which is used for training. Also, just some other random tidbit, there is actually a type of wood called "Purpleheart"! It's otherwise known as "peltogyne", and can be used to make a bokken! ****(Taylor, Kim. How to make a bokken. The Aikido FAQ.) I** **wonder if this could be fate?!**

* * *

And so, that's the second day down. Still mostly revolved around exposition, but the point of these events is to get Neptune adjusted in the DanMachi world. I'm admittedly not sure on how the Guild registers Adventurers, so if I forgot anything or is mentioned in other parts of the light novel, feel free to correct me on that one. So, anyways, as shown in Victory II, during her stay in the Zero Dimension, Neptune managed to handle things just fine despite the lack of video games. Pudding, however, is another story.

Oh, and thanks to Victory II, it has been revealed that Neptune actually can cook meals on her own! How surprising, I assumed she always let Nepgear or Compa do it all for her, but it was certainly an interesting reveal to her character. Thank you, Victory II, and your character developments.

And yeah, that old man in the story was the one that appeared in the beginning of the anime. Even though I said I'd be mostly going by the light novel, I will mix in elements of the anime and manga as well. Though I'm pretty sure most of you have noticed that by now, so I don't think there's any need to mention that.

Okay, enough ramblings aside, the next chapter will proceed to the third day - and that means the plot shall begin!


	4. Festivals are Supposed to be Painless

**_cybresamurai:_ ** Yep, I figured that some would pick up on that event. But, I think transforming would require someone to believe that the girl is an actual goddess? They knew Blanc was a CPU to begin with, so it just required the belief to come with it? Ehh, not so sure how about that theory either, but for this case I have to say I prefer Nep being her adorable human self. I would've also liked to see their reactions to Purple Heart as well, so I do have plans for that... more explanations at the end of the chapter!

 _ **Shirosaki Kizuro:** _ Thank you!

 _ **Raiden312:**_ Ah, true that. One of the many things Neptune values the most is her pudding. But let us all have the hope that Neptune's morals will pull through pudding bribery as well, ahaha. Anyway, thank you for your support, and yes, Hestia being Hestia, we know how she is when it comes to her precious Bell-kun. As for Neptune and her HDD... well, I've actually come upon a decision on that, and I kinda have a preference for Neptune being human instead. There's an explanation for that at the end of the chapter. Lol, that's true, I was surprised at the inconsistency with Neptune's cooking skills, unless maybe she's a selective cook instead? Or maybe I'm just overthinking things and it's just the whole "it's just a spin-off, therefore another alternate Neptune" deal, ahaha. But oh, once again, thanks for that reminder! You had a point with that one, so I made the necessary changes.

 _ **TinfoilxD:**_ Yes, it is my goal to make this fic as cute as Nep is. Ahaha.

 ** _Guest:_** Yep, Neptune can show some surprising maturity from time to time. Oh, and you're a reader from that fic too, haha, I didn't expect that; so I just wanted to say thanks for the support and don't worry, I will start working on my other fics. Just gotta release this chapter first.

 ** _nyamu:_ ** I like to think of Neptune as someone who chooses -when- to be competent, though. But the laziness is undeniable, ahaha. I totally imagined Neptune saying those words though, ahaha, you made my day with that one.

 ** _Harutora75:_** Hello again, Harutora75! Thanks for all the support you show to my Neptunia fics!

 _ **CPU of Planeptune Plutia:**_ Hmm, true, it might be too overkill for Histy to also be doing the cooking of all things. But Neptune never struck me as the type who'd be that independent to do all the work by herself... so maybe she ordered food instead? ...But then again, Nep's kinda unpredictable with her laziness, and they don't give much in-depth info about the Neptunia cast so who can tell, ahaha.

 _ **Garoil:**_ Thank you! And thank goodness I'm somehow managing to prevent OOC-ness. I do plan on making a couple of references from time to time. It's just as you said, continuity didn't really matter that much because of the lack of the fourth-wall, ahaha. Hestia finally appears in this chapter, so we can all see how she reacts to Neptune now.

Once again, thanks to the people who faved/followed! Special thanks to my beta reader **Rawrko** for helping me with this chapter!

 **DISCLAIMER: Don't own anything... other than my ideas, I guess?**

* * *

 **CHAPTER 4:**

 **Monster Festival? Totally Not Dangerous, For Sure**

* * *

With a battle cry, a Goblin comes rushing, arms swinging and sharp claws out, but Bell side-steps with each mad swing the monster made, further adding to its irritation. Undeterred, he senses movement from the back and makes another move to dodge yet another Goblin's swing, while at the same time bringing out his dagger and dispatches it with a slice at its side.

With that one taken care of, Bell's red eyes scan the remaining enemies in the vicinity. _'One down, three more to go... Better not get overwhelmed at this point. This place is quite difficult to move in...'_

And this certainly would have been a difficult fight... if he was alone.

"Chesto!"

With a few swift, precisely-aimed slices to a Goblin's chest, the Magic Stone from its chest comes tumbling out, making the Goblin slump over and shrivel up to ashes.

"Got another one!"

Encouraged by Neptune's assistance, Bell returns his focus on the remaining Goblins around him; and, after dodging their attempts at swinging at him with their arms, he uses his dagger to slash and finish them off.

"...I guess that's all of them." Bell glances at the Goblin corpses around him, seeing that there weren't anymore left.

"Well, then that's that—Bell-kun! Above you!"

At Neptune's warning, Bell takes notice of the large shadow looming above him and quickly dodges just as the creature had dived down on the spot he was previously standing on.

A brown, four-legged creature with a long tail was crouched onto the ground, making hissing noises as its thin tongue slithered from its mouth.

"Oh, it's that overgrown lizard again," Neptune remarks.

There really wasn't any other way to describe it. It literally was just a large lizard monster that prowled around in the Dungeon, hence the name [Dungeon Lizard]. It would latch onto the ceilings and attack unsuspecting Adventurers this way, often using its brown color to camouflage itself within the walls of the cave-like area.

However, all in all, it was still just one of the many low-leveled monsters on this floor.

The only thing that made this monster a bit more challenging to take on was that it would constantly jump and climb around the walls which made it hard to land a direct hit on. Waiting, or making it land onto the floor, was one's best bet to make a decisive strike, which was exactly where the monster was on right now.

Not wasting any second of this opportunity, Bell sprints towards the lizard and jumps in the air. Wielding his dagger in a reverse-grip, he pierces the monster on its back. The pressure that was exerted from landing the blow from above combined with Bell's increased strength had managed to pierce through the monster's hard scales, making the monster screech out in pain before it lifelessly slumped into the ground.

Seeing that it wasn't moving anymore, Bell gets off from its back with a look of concern. "Ah, I heard something connect roughly with my dagger. I hope I didn't damage the Magic Stone..."

"Meh, don't sweat it. We've managed to get a whole bunch of Magic Stones from the other floors anyway," Neptune tells him.

"Well, that's true..." It was just another low-leveled monster after all. Even if he did harvest a Magic Stone from it, it would be the same fragment as the Goblins or Kobolds that one encountered on this floor.

Bell proceeded to collect the Magic Stones and some of the loot that managed to drop out from the rest of the monster corpses that were laying around (Neptune still couldn't stomach the idea of cutting inside a monster's bloody flesh), and decides to finish their dungeon exploration up to this point.

They were currently on the 4th floor, so they made their way up to the entrance for a total of three floors.

They had actually made their way to the 6th floor today, which Bell wouldn't normally do due to the high risk in doing so (at least at his level). But he had to admit: Neptune accompanying him gave the confidence he needed to brave the high-risk floors. With her prowess at fighting, he felt he could accomplish at least this much. If she can slice through monster flesh with a wooden sword, there's no reason not to trust her abilities.

Seeing Neptune battle like that made something flare up within Bell. His passion to grow stronger; to be as strong as that someday. Can he do it though...? If he trains against tougher monsters, will he manage to catch up to -her- soon?

 _'Still...'_ He brushes away those thoughts as wishful thinking on his part. Things are fine the way they are now. Reaching the 6th floor is good enough. Anymore than that is pushing it at the moment. He can't be too impatient or else something might just happen to him. He promised Kami-sama he wouldn't leave her alone. The pace he's going through right now seems decent, since compared to before, Bell does admit he's a lot stronger now. This surely must be the effect of the status growth Kami-sama had informed him.

Since he and Neptune managed to go through from the 1st until the 6th floor, along with repeated monster encounters on their way back until the 4th, they've made a lot of progress. That's more than enough for today, especially when one compares to the normal pace he usually goes at.

Neptune's head tilts slightly as she examines Bell's face with a look of concern. He's been unusually quiet this entire time. "Bell-kun, you have this broody look on your face. Are you monologuing something like a first-person perspective protagonist?"

Neptune's voice snaps Bell out of his thoughts. "A-ah, well... I was going over a few things in my head..." he replies awkwardly. Now that she mentions it, another concern does rise up from within his mind. "Come to think of it, Nep-sama... is it really okay for you to have spent time here in the Dungeon? Eina-san said that you're not supposed to go until you're a full Adventurer..."

Gods were the ones who give humans the strength to be able to take on the monsters inside the Dungeon, that is, the [God's Grace]—otherwise known as the [Falna]. They only gave a blessing such as that to the ones in their Familia. As a safety measure, the Guild makes it a requirement that one must have joined a Familia if one wanted to become an Adventurer, so at the least it is assured that one is bestowed with the god's grace; and, therefore, you will not die easily.

He understands Eina's concerns about this matter, since it is part of her duty as a Guild member to prevent incidents from happening... though Neptune, being her carefree self, didn't look like she was bothered at all at the possibility of violating rules.

"Of course it's fine! Technically, I am -about- to become an Adventurer anyway, so it's still legit," Neptune replies confidently. For she was Neptune, seeker of loopholes for her convenience!

Bell only sweatdrops at this. He doesn't think Eina will accept that kind of explanation... He expects another huge lecture from her when they meet up later at the Guild...

* * *

It turned out Bell's worries were for nothing. Eina was absent for once today because she had another Familia-related duty she had to attend to, a Guild advisor had explained to him. Well, at least they were able to escape another lecture from Eina today. Neptune had yelled out a "Lucky us!" when she heard about it.

So, he just went on over to the cashier to exchange his Magic Stones for Valis and left the Guild.

As they stepped out, Bell couldn't help but notice that there were considerably less Adventurers or civilians that were around the street. Normally at this hour, it was the time where Adventurers would finish their dungeon explorations and would be on their way home, just like what he was doing now.

Neptune took notice of his constant glances around the street and decides to ask, "Hm? Bell-kun, is something the matter?"

"Oh, I was just wondering why there aren't much people today..."

At his words, Neptune looks around the area herself and does notice that it was less crowded today. "Huh, you're right. Wonder if everyone already went home?"

 _'Is that really the case...?'_ Bell found it far too unusual for a normally populated area to be rather empty like this.

"Oh, if it isn't Bell."

The two halt at their steps at the sound of the voice behind them, turning around to see a tall, handsome man with dark blue hair wearing a grey robe smiling at them. Neptune could be heard gasping out, "Pretty boy!" from beside Bell.

"Oh, Kami-sama," Bell looked briefly surprised at the man's appearance before greeting him with a bow.

Hearing his greeting, Neptune looks rather confused. "Huh? Bell-kun, I thought your 'Kami-sama' was a goddess." Unless this he in front of them was actually a she?! _'Pretty appearances are so deceiving!'_

"Ah, Bell, is this a companion of yours?" the man asks, noticing the purple-haired girl with the wooden sword strapped on her back, held in place with a clumsily arranged cloth slung on her body.

Bell stumbles a bit at the two questions thrown at him, and could only mutter out a "Erm, uh..." until Neptune responds back first.

"Hi! I'm Neptune! Soon to be fellow Hestia-Familia-Adventurer," she greets with her usual cheerful smile.

The man brightened up at her words. "So you plan on joining Hestia's Familia. That's great news. I'm sure she'd be happy to hear that. It's about time her Familia took in a new member."

"So you're not Hestia?" Neptune asks bluntly, thinking of her earlier thoughts.

The man's face turns into slight amusement. "No, I'm afraid not. I know Hestia since our Familias are well-aquainted with each other. My name is Miach. You most likely confused me with Hestia due to Bell's term. Don't mind him. He's a polite boy like that."

"Yeah, I can see that," Neptune replies with equal hilarity.

Bell, mildly flustered at being talked about, decides to cut in on their conversation. "U-um, anyway! Miach-sama, speaking of Kami... er, Hestia-sama, have you heard any news about her? It's already been two days since she went to this banquet."

"Oh, you're referring to Ganesha's banquet. Unfortunately, I did not attend. I was far too busy with my own Familia-related matters. Ah, that's how it is when you're the leader of a small Familia," he says in false tiredness. "Sorry, it looks like I'm not able to be helpful."

Bell only waved his hands in front of him frantically. A god like him didn't have to apologize! "A-ah, no! Really, it's fine, Miach-sama!"

"Hmm, but today should be the last day of his banquet, if I recall, since the Monster Festival is today. Ganesha hosts the festival as the finale. He always has the need to make things extravagant, that one," Miach adds with a shake of his head at the thought of it.

"Monster Festival?" Both Bell and Neptune ask in confusion.

"Ah, right. Bell, you just recently arrived to Orario, so you don't know about this yet. I assume Neptune-san doesn't either. It's quite the famous event. The Monster Festival is a yearly occasion that's organized by the [Ganesha Familia] where they showcase Adventurers taming monsters from the Dungeon in the coliseum for the entire day," Miach explains.

 _'So that explained the lack of people...'_ Bell's eyes widen. "T-taming monsters?! Is that possible?!"

"Yes, taming is one of the many possible skills Adventurers can acquire. It allows the monster to witness an Adventurer's strength and become obedient towards them," Miach replies. "It's an incredibly risky thing to do, however. So one must be a strong Adventurer if they wish to attempt such a thing."

"Amazing..." Bell breathes out. He wasn't aware that the idea of taming monsters was actually possible.

Something like that was only what high-level Adventurers could accomplish. Such a feat was still far out of reach for him.

"That sounds totally cool! I wanna see it!" Neptune says eagerly. They never had such a cool function exist in Gamindustri, because as far as they were concerned, monsters were creatures that needed to be eliminated. Otherwise, they might cause some problems for the people. And they existed for the sake of obtaining items. That was pretty much it. So, it must be pretty interesting to watch how it's actually done.

Also, it was a festival! _'Festivals are always fun!'_ Neptune thinks.

"Well, the festival is still currently on-going. If you hurry now, you should still make it," Miach replies.

Neptune hurriedly turns to Bell with begging eyes. "Hey, hey, do you think we can go?"

"W-well..." It's not like they had anything better to do, and Bell admits that a part of him wants to see it too... And with the earnings they had from the Dungeon exploration, it should be more than enough, so why not?

(Plus, seeing her look at him with such bright shining eyes... he can't possibly refuse).

"I guess we can go check it out..." he eventually replies, making Neptune cheer.

"Well then, I better be on my way. I still have to buy ingredients for dinner," Miach says, preparing to make his leave. He only takes a few steps forward before he takes on a thoughtful expression as he pauses and reaches a hand inside the paper bag he was carrying, taking out two thin tubes containing blue liquid. "Oh, right, before you two go, I would like to give these to you."

He handed the two tubes towards Bell, which he had automatically reached out to grab them so they wouldn't end up falling onto the ground.

"A-ah, Miach-sama, this is...!?"

"Those are freshly-made potions from my shop. As neighbors, we should be helping each other, right?" Miach tells Bell with an ambiguous smile.

"Ah, erm, but to receive this so suddenly..." Bell tries to mutter.

"If you really want to make up for it, then feel free to purchase more! I'll be looking forward to your patronage to my Familia!" Miach patted Bell on the back, then walked off as he waved goodbye to the both of them.

Bell was left staring at Miach's disappearing silhouette in the distance, still stunned.

"Ooh, I see what he did there! Giving out free samples to see if it's to the customer's satisfaction! It's a marketing strategy!" Neptune whispers to Bell. She was aware of how it worked, since she does give out free demos when it comes to releasing new games in her nation from time to time.

"I'll have to thank Miach-sama for it the next time we meet," Bell says as he places the potions into the holster strapped on his left leg.

"All right then, to the festival!" Neptune announces, raising a fist in the air.

* * *

The Monster Festival was currently taking place in East Main Street.

The city of Orario had a total of eight avenues. From the center of the city, the wall spreads out into eight directions. The avenues were distinguished by their respective names, such as North Main Street, South-East Main Street, North-West Main Street, and West Main Street.

"Like a cake", Bell had said, and Neptune got it immediately.

There were a lot of names to list, so Bell didn't bother to say the rest. And admittedly, he could only say names of the avenues he visited, or knew about, since he still hadn't memorized the entirety of the city yet.

Despite the setting sun, the entire street looked like it was still fairly lively. There were still people crowding around stalls, and various decorations placed on the street, such as the flowers, ribbons, and flags depicting what appeared to be the Ganesha Familia's emblem, were streamed overhead.

"It was most likely a lot more active here earlier this morning... It's a shame we didn't know about this event until now," Bell muses with slight regret as he looks around. He was so caught up in exploring the Dungeon today that he hadn't even noticed that there was a festival going on.

Neptune, ever the optimist, merely steps in front of Bell with her usual grin on her face. "Well, even if we didn't get to come earlier, a festival is still a festival! Let's enjoy it while it lasts!" She grabs one of Bell's hands and starts to tug him forward. "Come on, come on! There's bound to be some good food left!"

"A-ah, w-wait, Nep-sama...!?" Bell sputters as Neptune drags him along, his face starting to grow red.

Holding hands with a cute girl was one of the many things Bell was not used to.

* * *

"It's done."

Approaching a small girl whose hair was tied up in two pigtails, a red-haired woman wearing an eyepatch over her right eye hands the girl a box, which she eagerly accepted.

The girl opens the box, and inside of it was resting a pitch-black weapon, inside an equally pitch-black sheath.

This was the weapon that was made exclusively for Bell's use. This was what the petite girl, Hestia, had been begging to be made by none other than Heaven's best blacksmith, Hephaestus.

With the power of dogeza (and convenient friendship connections), Hephaestus had eventually given in. The weapon had taken up nearly the entire day's time to create, and had only been finished now.

"Hephaestus, I know that you're the one who made it, but can I at least name the weapon? This is the testament of my love to Bell-kun, so how about I call it the [Dagger of Love]?!" Hestia says excitedly.

"No, having a name like that will diminish the quality of the weapon..." Hephaestus replies, cringing at the name. "But, there's no denying that this is a weapon that was made with your blessing."

With the inscriptions Hestia herself wrote on the blade, this meant that no one other than people she had given her blessing to will be able to wield the weapon.

"The [Hestia Knife]... how about that instead?" Hephaestus suggests.

"Eh...! Ah, nonono...! That's too embarrassing...!" Hestia covers her face with her gloved hands in supposed embarrassment, her twintails seemingly reflecting her mood as they were actually twirling with her.

Hephaestus sighs in bemusement at Hestia's antics. "Don't forget. You still have a debt to pay. I won't let you back out on it."

"I know, I know!" Hestia was far too caught up in her happiness and just waved off her friend's statement, hurriedly packing the dagger and wrapping it up in some cloth. "I'm off then!"

"Ah, Hestia! Shouldn't you take a break first?!" Hephaestus calls out, but the small goddess had already run out of the shop.

Once again, Hephaestus sighs. That girl was far too excitable for her own good. She's been doing that "dogeza" for two days straight without eating, so she shouldn't be forcing her body like that...

Back outside, Hestia was running out in the streets, carrying the newly forged weapon in her arms, the excitement evident on her face. She wanted to give this weapon to Bell as soon as possible. That child, surely, with his emotional personality, will react greatly once she shows her gift to him.

Would he praise her and look upon her with adoring eyes? Or maybe, maybe... he might actually give her a hug! Hestia squealed at the thought.

 _'Ah, but...'_ She comes to an abrupt halt. When she thinks about it, where would Bell be at this time of hour? He should be returning home from the Dungeon, but that child had the tendency to stay in the Dungeon until nighttime. He's been staying in the Dungeon longer lately, most likely trying to train himself. For that Wallenwhatsit girl...

Hestia puffs out her cheeks in irritation at that thought, until her attention is eventually drawn to a leaflet that was placed on a nearby shop's window.

 _'Oh, right, Ganesha had that Monster Festival scheduled today...'_ Another thought suddenly comes to her. _'Knowing Bell-kun, it's his first time here in the city, so that excitable child must have went there to watch it!'_

A confident grin spreads onto her face. She was absolutely sure about this! As his goddess, she knew everything about Bell!

Looks like she'll be heading to East Main Street.

"HEY, TAXI!"

* * *

Amongst the loud cheers and cries of awe coming from the audience, Eina watched silently from the sidelines.

The Adventurer standing in the middle of the wide open space in the center was dodging the monster's incoming attacks with graceful movements, making the crowd react as their loud cheers would resound throughout the entire coliseum with every skillful act the Adventurer would perform.

Eina had to admit that she was impressed with the crowd's enthusiasm. Though night was starting to fall, the audience hadn't let up with their cheers ever since the event started earlier during the day. She supposed it made sense, since monster taming was quite a rare skill for an Adventurer to possess. Only those who had a great amount of potential and experience could possibly pull it off. And for the other civilians who did not go to the Dungeon, witnessing monsters up close like this must be a rare sight for them to see. They had showcased different monsters of varied sizes and types, switching in with Adventurers who would show off different styles of taming the monsters, keeping the crowd entertained.

Also, the people were most likely looking forward to the night celebration the Familia had planned on doing after the main event, hence the reason why they had arranged for many stalls and shopkeepers around the coliseum area. And, also, why the Familia would always occupy the coliseum for the entire day. The God Ganesha was not one to hold back whenever it came to hosting parties, Eina thinks.

However, that didn't mean she approved of the event entirely. Monsters were very dangerous creatures. The very reason why the tower of Babel was constructed was to keep away these threats in the first place. Actually bringing them out of the Dungeon was a great risk. This is why the Guild would always supervise this event to ensure nothing happens.

From beside her, Eina's colleagues looked to be greatly interested with the show in the same manner as the audience was. They had been staring at the display with wide eyes and had been murmuring and talking amongst themselves during the entirety of the event.

Perhaps she's being too strict? Her fellow guild officers had been enjoying themselves, and the day was just about to end; and nothing bad had happened so far, so she should be at ease.

And yet, something within Eina still couldn't help but worry...

* * *

A cloaked woman stepped out into the center of the dark-lit room, nonchalantly walking as if she were on a stroll, seemingly unaffected with the low growls and roars from the monsters surrounding her.

Her eyes scan among the few remaining monsters in their cages, and comes to rest upon one sole monster resting in the very corner of the room. She approaches it, stopping directly in front of the iron bars it was confined to.

The monster had fur as white as snow. Just like that boy, she thinks with a smile.

The monster leers at her with a threatening snarl, but as soon as she removes the hood of her cloak, the monster grows silent.

The rest of the monsters from around the room also come to a pause at the sight of the beautiful woman standing before them.

"Come." She unlocks the door to the monster's cage, using the keys she had taken from a guild officer on-duty. The said guard was lying unconsciously along with her colleagues.

Breaking in was an easy feat. As Freya, the Goddess of Beauty, her entire being was -beauty- itself. No one can resist her.

She reaches out a hand and caresses the monster's cheek.

Ahh, to think that she would find that boy to be here. She had visited the coliseum out of boredom with nothing else to do, and found her day to be rather dull until she spotted his presence.

That boy, that child... with her [Discerning Eye], she saw it. The color of his soul—it was transparent. Full of endless possibilities. He was brimming with innocence and spirit that was utterly hard to come by in the [Lower World]. The moment she perceived this from within him, she became entranced.

He was growing so fast. She wanted to see more of his growth. And she was willing to do anything in order to accomplish it.

There is a possibility he might die. That thought had briefly crossed Freya's mind, but she quickly brushes it off with a smile.

Even if that child were to die, she will follow his soul, and claim it as her own.

She did not want such a beautiful soul to go to waste. That child was simply so interesting; she can't help but want to tease him a bit. She was acting akin to a child who saw a new toy and wanted to obtain it no matter what the cost.

She stares into the monster's hazy eyes, envisioning that boy's form and conveying her thoughts towards it.

 _'That child... play with him for me, please?'_

* * *

Hestia hops off from the carriage, paying the driver for the traveling fee, with a "Thanks! Keep the change!" as she sprints off further into the streets.

The driver stares blankly into the coins in his hand. _'This is the exact amount.'_

Leaving the carriage and the driver behind, she continues to run excitedly towards her place of destination, rapidly glancing around the people she would pass by as she went.

Suddenly she spots a tuft of white hair over by the distance. Hestia grins. That was unmistakably Bell! His fluffy white hair made it impossible to not be spotted! Making her way through the crowd, she raises a hand up in the air to catch his attention.

"Bell-ku—" The words die in her throat.

The people in front of her had walked away, clearing the path, letting her get a good view at Bell's direction.

He was there, but he wasn't alone.

Beside him, there was a cute purple-haired girl who was dragging him along, excitedly pointing out various shops and stalls that were nearby. Though Hestia noticed that Bell looked slightly uncomfortable at the physical contact, he was smiling with that girl. They looked like they were enjoying themselves.

Hestia gapes at the sight, the weapon slipping out of her hands.

Were they... dare she say it...

On a **-DATE-**?!

Hestia, who was currently frozen in place like a statue, eventually sinks down to her knees, overcome with a new wave of depression. The people who were walking by would look down at her oddly, but all of them had enough decency to leave the girl alone and continued to pass by her silently without making a fuss.

She had been gone for only this long... and she already got replaced?!

Completely unaware of the currently agonizing goddess's presence in the area, Neptune continues to tug Bell along with her.

"Ooh, look, look! They even have crepe here!"

"A-ah, Nep-sama, didn't we come here to watch in the coliseum? If we don't hurry, we won't be able to view the event anymore..."

"Yeah, yeah, I know that! But we gotta at least have some snacks to eat while we watch, right? Do they have popcorn here?!"

Bell had just opened his mouth to say something in response, when suddenly a loud noise that erupted from the coliseum made his and Neptune's head whip towards it in alarm.

"What..."

From one of the coliseum's entrances, a white-haired beast burst forth.

Screams resounded from the people nearby.

In a manner akin to that of a monkey, the monster takes a giant leap forward, the chains wrapped around its arms rattling loudly as it moved; its deafening roar echoing throughout the area. More crashing sounds could be heard, coming from the other entrances to the coliseum as more monsters came stampeding out.

"Uh... that's not part of the event, is it...?" Neptune mumbles out slowly, a look of unease on her face.

 _'No, it definitely isn't!'_ At the sight of the white-haired monster rampaging towards them, Bell had just managed to snap out of his shock as his hand shoots out to grip Neptune's hand and frantically pulls her to the side, just as the monster had came crashing down on where they previously stood.

Bits of debris flew out from the now-cracked cobblestone floor from where the monster landed. The monster releases a low growl, turning its head in their direction.

Bell's trembling form takes in the monster's large, hunched body. That white fur... he recalls one of the many lessons Eina had taught him regarding about the monsters of different floor levels. This is a [Silverback]. A monster that resembled a large white monkey and only spawned on the 11th floor.

 _'What is it doing here...?! Have the monsters escaped?!'_

The Silverback roars, swinging a fist in their direction. This time, it is Neptune who pulls on Bell to dodge the strong fist that ended up crushing one of the empty stalls behind them.

But the monster doesn't waste a second. Seeing that it missed its target, it turns its head to glare at them, and charges at them with another loud roar. His battle instincts taking over, Bell grabs Neptune's hand again and runs.

* * *

At the sound of screaming, Hestia snaps out of her lifeless-like state, and looks at the sight of scampering people around her.

 _'Eh? Eh? What's happening?'_

Her eyes come across Bell and his running figure in the distance, with the purple-haired girl in tow. Right behind them, a white-haired monster was in pursuit.

Hestia's eyes widen in alarm, standing up from her position. _'Ah! Bell-kun!'_ He was in danger! That monster looked strong... She doesn't mean to look down on Bell, but she knew that at his current level, he won't be able to put much of a fight against that thing.

 _'...But, with the new weapon, he probably can...'_ Hestia's hand grips tightly of what was supposed to be where the weapon wrapped in cloth was, only for her hand to grasp air _. 'Huh...?'_

She wasn't holding anything.

Her face pales as she remembers that she had ended up dropping it out of shock earlier. Did she lose it?! She immediately crouches down on the ground, desperately searching for any sign of the clothed weapon amongst the stampeding feet of the people who were running and screaming in fright. Hephaestus was going to -kill- her if she lost that weapon which had been just made!

* * *

"Uwaaah, it's following us!" Neptune cries out as she glances behind.

Bell doesn't say anything, though, a small noise escapes from his mouth that sounded like a frightened whimper as he frantically tries to pick up speed.

He doesn't want to look. The sound of something crashing or getting torn down was enough to tell him that the monster was closing in on them. He can hear his heart pounding fast in his head, accompanied with the nearby shouts and screams from the people who would see the beast. He tries to block it all out. The fear, the shouting. He focuses on the hand he's been holding firmly; it serves as a reminder that he needs to get the -both of them- to safety.

He runs, turning to different sides and slipping through corners in the alley with no sense of direction. He wasn't paying attention to where they were going, or where they ended up to. Nothing mattered as long as they can lose the Silverback that was hell-bent on chasing them for whatever reason.

After running through another alley, his feet come to an abrupt stop. Behind him, he can hear Neptune panting for breath. "Bell-kun, what's...?"

The various turns in the street, the messily constructed walls, unnaturally placed rooms and stairs; the overall complicated structure of this place...

This was [Daedalus Road].

It was named after the designer who had originally built this unnaturally styled area, and because of its confusing structure no one had bothered to live here until it eventually became occupied by poor people. Rooms and homes in this place were built without any sense of planning which only added to the confusion.

It was said that if one got lost here, the chances of returning were highly unlikely.

Bell hesitated to move on. As with most locations, he wasn't familiar with this area. If he and Neptune were to end up getting lost, worst-case scenario was they would end up wandering pointlessly throughout the streets and get cornered by the monster.

His hesitation had delayed them, as the Silverback had caught up. It made a giant leap from the rooftops and dived down, the sheer impact of its landing causing a tremor in the ground, causing the duo to stumble and release each other's hands as they toppled in opposite sides.

The Silverback, not taking its eyes off Bell, lets out another roar as it makes another move to attack again.

The monster was right in front of him. Bell was terrified.

—But, at the same time, he realized this opportunity. It was in front of him; if he runs fast enough, he can slash at its chest—the weakpoint of all monsters. Using that burst of confidence, he grabs his dagger from its sheath and rushes forward.

He swings—

—only to be met with the sound of something shattering.

A large impact, as if something hard and heavy had been slammed into him, was what followed.

"Bell-kun!"

Pinned into the wall, he stares into the face of the Silverback that was breathing down on him, his mind finally registering what happened.

He had slashed at the Silverback's chest. He knew he did. And yet, his blade had bounced off that monster's hard chest, shattering in the process, leaving only a small scratch to at least indicate that something had attempted to attack it.

The monster opens its mouth, showing off its sharp fangs as it roars directly in front of him. The deafening sound makes his ears ring.

Was he going to die here?

Just like that?

"BELL-KUN!"

...No.

Not like this!

In the darkness of the night, he sees something shining with a faint blue light. Wasting no time, he grabs the [Magic Stone Lamp] that was placed onto the wall nearby, turns up the light into its maximum level and quickly shoves it into the monster's eyes.

The Silverback screeches at the bright light that assaulted its eyes, releasing Bell from its hold. Neptune quickly rushes over to him, grabs his hand and runs forward into the narrow streets of Daedalus Road. Bell lets Neptune drag him without anymore protest, fully aware that if they wanted to escape there was no choice but to take the risk and head inside.

As they ran, the people from their rooms would hurry and close their windows shut as they passed by. Bell couldn't find it in his heart to blame them; it was only a natural reaction for people who were powerless over the situation to turn away.

Powerless... just like him.

A sinking feeling settles into Bell's chest. He wasn't able to do anything. He is weak.

A sense of resignation comes over to him as he looks down in shame and willingly starts to slow down.

"Nep-sama... please escape."

Neptune looks back at him in disbelief. "What?!"

"Nep-sama, that monster is after me."

He had noticed it. When he and Neptune had been temporarily separated moments ago, the Silverback had never taken its eyes off him and only concentrated all of its attacks at him. If that was the case, then...

"You're in danger if you stay with me. I'm the one it wants... so please go ahead without me."

He knows that even if he fights back, he won't be able to do anything. He'll be killed if he does.

But it assures him that if at least this girl escapes alive, that's enough for him. He won't die in vain.

Neptune's eyes widen at his declaration, before her face hardens in fierce determination.

"The main character—"

She forcefully grips his slipping hand even tighter...

"—doesn't abandon her friends!"

...then pulls him in front of her and shoves him forward.

Bell lets out a yelp at the forceful shove, as Neptune skids to a stop and hurriedly unties the cloth slung over her body (it falls somewhere along the ground, but she could worry about the act of littering later), readying her wooden sword.

That monster was fast. It would take great leaps using its large legs which is why it could catch up so easily. So if she could disable its legs somehow, then would it slow it down? Neptune herself wasn't so sure how accurate this plan was, but that was the logic she could come up with at the moment.

But the sword she was wielding right now was a wooden one. No matter how strong she was capable of swinging it (or no matter how cool she thought using it was), the fact doesn't change that it was still made out of wood. It wasn't exactly the sturdiest kind of material there was for a weapon. This wasn't Gamindustri anymore. Even if the weapon broke, she can't recreate another one again because the equipment system doesn't exist here.

Neptune stares at the tip of her wooden sword. Should be fairly sharp; she sharpened it before entering the Dungeon after all.

So taking a deep breath, she rushes at the incoming beast, draws back her sword and stabs it straight at its left leg. Neptune must have unexpectedly put more force than she thought she would, as the sword pierced through the monster's flesh all the way to the other side. She looked uncomfortable at the sight, as the monster roars and starts to thrash around in pain.

Neptune decides to retrieve her wooden sword, awkwardly trying to reach out for it while the monster was busy with the pain it was experiencing. As soon as she managed to grab a hold of the handle, she hurriedly takes it out, causing the blood from the monster's wound to spill. Neptune cringed at the sight, as she rapidly shook her sword to the side in hopes of removing the stray blood off from it _('Oh True Goddess get it off get it off get it off there's blood so gross_ — _'_ ).

The Silverback growls fiercely at Neptune, its eyes blazing with anger. It lets out a louder roar, and charges at Neptune with new-found vigor despite its bleeding leg.

Startled, Neptune could only raise up her sword defensively above her just as the Silverback brings down a large fist down at her. The wooden sword only holds for a few seconds before it breaks in two at the beast's strength.

Neptune's eyes widen, but she reacts quickly and raises her arms in the shape of an x to block the monster's next angry swing. She braces herself as the blow sends her skidding backwards harshly.

Neptune winces at her arms, feeling them go numb from the harsh impact. _'Oh Nep, that thing hits hard.'_

She should have been capable of resisting that attack more. She's dealt attacks far worse than this, such as Yellow Heart's strong blows. Compared to that, this should have hurt less.

But that was back when she was a goddess. Here, she was human. And being human meant being as vulnerable as to what the human body was capable of. Neptune supposes she was lucky she didn't end up breaking her bones instead. Ugh, looks like having a human body is going to take some time to work with.

And yet, despite her condition, she yells out, "Hey, I got that sword for free!". Only Neptune could have the audacity to comment on something regardless of her situation. Bell finds himself admiring Neptune even more for her unbreakable spirit. He gets up from his position from the ground he ended up being shoved into, with a renewed determination to survive. She protected him; he won't let that go to waste. He quickly grabs her arm, inwardly apologizing at the wince of pain that flashed into her face when he did, and leads her deeper into the streets, hearing the roar of the beast right behind them.

* * *

Hestia runs, the streetlamps illuminating the dark and empty streets. Clutched in her arms was a small piece of cloth containing the weapon. After much searching, she had finally found it scattered among the destroyed items in one of the nearby stalls.

She had to find Bell. She remembers him running with the girl in this direction. At first, she was worried that she might lose track of where they went, but the continuous wreckage that she kept encountering on the way seem to be pointing the direction that they took with the monster following them.

With the help of some people she asked questions to, they ended up pointing her to the area where Daedalus Road was.

Hestia sees a blood trail leading deeper into the streets, hoping that this blood isn't Bell's, and dashes further in.

* * *

The two found it difficult to run inside the dark labyrinth-like streets; there weren't many lights available so they would occasionally trip and stumble upon trash or pieces of debris from old buildings. But even so, the two continued to run, desperate to lose the bellowing creature pursuing them.

They eventually come to a stop. It was what Bell had feared. They came across a dead end.

Bell stares at the wall obstructing their path, his face as white as his hair. Behind him and Neptune, the Silverback approaches the two with heavy breaths and steps. They were cornered.

Bell grits his teeth in frustration, clenching his hands that made him unconsciously grip Neptune's hand tighter.

"We can still make it."

At the sound of her calm voice, Bell turns to face Neptune who was staring at the Silverback with a determined face.

"We can still make it," she repeats. "It looks really tired now. If we can manage to get past it, we can get out of here and escape."

Bell follows her gaze and does see that the Silverback was looking worn out now. It was panting heavily from all that running and blood loss, and that wound that Neptune inflicted on its leg had certainly worked since it wasn't jumping around as it used to.

Its large body was blocking their only exit, but if they could find some way to get past it, they'd be able to run away.

The Silverback howls, using its arm to pound the ground, making the ground tremble as nearby debris starts to fall. This was a small and narrow passageway, making them vulnerable to being crushed by the nearby debris.

"Whoa, whoa, this isn't good!" Neptune exclaims, trying to regain her balance. "If we let that white monkey keep that up, we're going to end up brutally crushed by some heavy object instead! We're gonna have to make it attack us directly. Uh, if I call it ugly and fat, will it rush over?"

Interestingly, the Silverback does seem to pick up on her insult as one of its ears twitches, and rushes in with another roar, which the two quickly dodge. It was easier to dodge it this time; the monster wasn't as fast as before due to the wound on its leg.

Using this chance, the two hurry and run out into the end of the passageway.

"Ah, Bell-kun?!"

Spotting a familiar face, Bell abruptly comes to a stop. "Kami-sama?!"

From behind Bell, Neptune blinks at the girl's appearance. Black hair and twintails? _'Noire...?'_

"Oh, Bell-kun! There you are! I've been searching for you!" The twintailed girl says cheerfully.

Bell shakes his head with a look of urgency in his face. "Never mind that, Kami-sama! Right now, it's dangerous to be here...!" On cue, a roar in the distance reminded them of the situation at the moment.

Hestia stares at the origin of the sound, and her previously cheerful face shifted into a serious one. "I know. Bell-kun, you will be the one to defeat that monster."

Bell's eyes widen at her declaration. "Eh?! What... Kami-sama, that's not possible..."

Hestia takes a step closer to him, holding out a piece of cloth. "With this, you can." She unwraps the cloth, revealing a black dagger. "Take it, Bell-kun. This is a weapon that was specifically made for your use."

Bell stares at the dagger, slightly awed at its form, letting go of Neptune's hand as he reaches out to take it. As he does, the engravings on the blade seemed to light up slightly in response. "This is..."

Hestia grins at the astonished look on his face. "You're amazed, aren't you, Bell-kun? You can praise me all you want later. Right now, we need to get your [Status] updated."

"Eh? My Status? Why now...?" Bell asks in confusion.

Hestia merely looks at him with half-lidded eyes. "Bell-kun, you don't expect to win with all your might at your current strength, do you? With your enhanced strength, you will surely be able to take it down!"

At her reasoning, and the confidence in her eyes, Bell could find no words to argue with. "I understand."

However, at that moment, the Silverback comes charging through the passageway, having caught up to them. Bell pales slightly at the sight of it, as Hestia clicks her tongue. "We're going to have to do it fast," she says.

"Hmm, I take it your status update thing is going to take a while?" Neptune's voice suddenly asks. Bell and Hestia stare after her as she takes a step forward. A confident smile makes its way into her face. "Then I'll buy you two some time. I'll distract it while you two get it done." Neptune stands unwavering as she stares straight into the monster's eyes. "Your opponent... is me!"

The Silverback's eyes narrow in response at Neptune's form, recognizing her as the one who had stabbed it in its leg. Once again, it roars.

"Nep-sama...!" Bell reaches out a hand towards Neptune in a worried manner, but his face also settles in resolution as he grabs one of the potions he had placed on the holster of his leg. "Nep-sama, drink this! It'll restore your energy!"

Neptune takes the potion from him and examines it for a few seconds ( _'Is this gonna taste like Nep Bull?'_ ) before taking the lid off and drinks, feeling a refreshing wave of energy flow inside her. She hands back the empty container and turns to face the Silverback with newfound strength. "All right! HP restored! I'm feeling pumped up!" And with that, she dashes forward towards the monster ahead.

"Let's do it, Bell-kun," Hestia says from behind him.

Not wanting to waste Neptune's efforts, Bell looks back at Hestia and nods, taking off his cloak and bag, leaving only his black clothes on and kneels on one knee. "Yes."

In front of them, Neptune was busy battling the Silverback. As soon as Neptune nears the monster, she uses the momentum from jumping high in the air to deliver a kick to its chest, pushing it backwards from the impact. The monster growls and charges towards her. In this narrow space, Neptune had nowhere else to dodge, so she slides underneath it instead. She sees the Silverback slightly focus its gaze on Bell and Hestia, and before it could make any sort of move towards them, she yells a "I won't let you!". She pulls at its chains, tugging it backwards, redirecting its attention back on her, and proceeds to attack her again.

"Okay, it's done!" Hestia announces. She pulls down Bell's black shirt and gives him a slight pat on the back. "Go, Bell-kun!"

At her signal, Bell throws back his coat on and drinks the remaining potion he had on him. With his energy restored and [Hestia Knife] gripped in his hand, he sprints forward from his crouched stance.

"Urryoaaaaahh!"

Both Neptune and the Silverback are drawn to the sound of Bell's battle cry, turning to face his direction. He continues to dash forward, crimson eyes glowing in the dark of the night, the dagger in his hand similarly emitting a faint light from the engravings.

Using his enhanced speed, he shot forward like a bullet. His eyes dead-set on the monster's chest, he takes a great swing, cleaving through the air in a beautiful arc. What previously was an impenetrable wall of fur was pierced by the blade. The Silverback's eyes widen as it lets out its final, dying roar as it slowly fades into ashes. The dagger that had been stuck in its chest dropped onto the ground with a loud clang. Bell had sliced the Silverback's Magic Stone in order for it to die quickly, which is why it did not end up dropping the said item. But in a life or death situation such as that, Bell did not have time to bother with such details.

Upon the death of the monster, the surroundings erupted into loud cheers, coming from the people who were silently watching from their houses.

Neptune approaches Bell who was sitting down on the ground in exhaustion with a merry smile. "You did it, Bell-kun!"

Bell smiles back at her. "I did...!" He turns to face Hestia with a bright smile. "Kami-sama, I did it!"

Hestia smiles at him victoriously, and suddenly collapses on the ground. This makes Neptune and Bell react with panic.

"Kami-sama?!" Rushing over to the goddess, he picks up her unconscious form in his arms and starts to run for the exit.

"Eh, ah, Bell-kun...?!" Startled at his sudden exit, Neptune picks up his dagger that was lying down on the ground and chases after him.

From a certain location, a cloaked woman watches. She stares after the two figures with a smile, then walks off.

* * *

"Huh, for a supposed monster running about here, everyone looks happy..." a girl with her red hair tied up in a short ponytail and closed eyes comments, as she looked around the crowd of people who wore joyful expressions. Beside her, a blonde-haired girl looked on quietly. The red-haired girl taps on a man's shoulder. "Hey, uncle, I thought a monster was spotted here?"

"Ah, you see, about that! The monster was already defeated! A friend of mine in Daedalus Road told me that it was a boy who defeated it!" The man replies enthusiastically.

"Huh? A boy?" The red-haired girl repeats.

"He had white hair and red eyes. Just like a rabbit!" At those words, the blonde-haired girl's eyes widen. "Ah, and I think they said he also had a purple-haired girl accompanying him, I heard..."

"The boy..." The blonde starts to say, and the red-haired girl couldn't help but take note of the high amount of interest there was in her tone. "Is he still here?"

"Oh, I think that..." The man starts to reply, when at that moment... in the corner of her eye, the blonde-haired girl spots a boy with white hair running across the crowd, carrying an unconscious girl in his arms, followed by a purple-haired girl.

The blonde reaches out a hand and takes a step forward to approach him, but with the large amount of people blocking the way, she fails to do so as she watches him run out of sight.

She feels disappointment fill her inside. She had failed to talk to him again.

To that boy, whom she accidentally hurt; she wants to apologize.

But for now, she silently whispers a message to him.

 _'Good work.'_

* * *

The time was 10 PM in the evening.

Bell had run into Syr, who was coming back after the commotion in the Monster Festival, and after talking with the owner of the bar, they agreed to let them rest inside the [Hostess of Fertility]. Hestia had been sleeping in the spare room they had on the second floor.

Currently, Bell was seated on a chair in one of the rooms they had on that same floor. Syr, a silver-haired girl dressed in a maid's uniform, was sitting across him; while Neptune sat beside Bell, her face sprawled out into the table in exhaustion, saying that she hadn't ran that much in -years-.

Syr had explained to them that thanks to the Ganesha Familia and guild members' quick actions, they were able to effectively minimize the monster incident. There also was apparently another Familia that helped eliminate the other released monsters, preventing any further casualties.

Unfortunately, they weren't able to catch the criminal behind the incident. The guild officers who had been taken out were affected by a spell of some sorts, so they were unable to remember who had attacked and broke into the monster stables.

In the end, Bell and Neptune weren't able to watch the Monster Festival after all. But at the moment, Bell was just relieved that nothing grave had happened during the entire commotion. According to Syr, Hestia had only collapsed due to fatigue, so it wasn't anything serious. He breathed out a sigh of relief at that.

"Still, Bell-kun... I heard from the others that you were very cool when you defeated that monster," Syr remarks with a smile.

"Eh?! Ah, no, I just ran all over the place... and it was thanks to Nep-sama's help I was able to survive through the incident," Bell replies.

Neptune, with her face still lying down on the table, merely raises a dismissive hand in his direction and lets out a muffled, "You're too modest."

"I agree," Syr adds with a chuckle. "Bell-kun doesn't give himself much credit. The act of courageously standing up to a monster... is a very cool feat, you know? Like a hero!"

"E-eh?! H-hero?! T-that's too...!" Bell responds with a blush in embarrassment.

Syr merely giggles at his reaction and stands up from her seat. "Well, I still have some work to do. The both of you are welcome to stay even after closing time. Just this once, Mama Mia will let the pub remain open late tonight so you can rest."

"O-oh, um, thank you very much!" Syr just gives another smile at Bell's gratitude and leaves the room.

Once Syr had left, Neptune raises her head from the table and shoots Bell a teasing grin. "Aren't you popular?"

"E-eh? W-where did that come from, Nep-sama?!"

A sudden loud thud from nearby startles the two.

"That sounds like it came from Kami-sama's room...!" Bell says worriedly, standing up and rushing over with Neptune following after.

They head inside the room to see the goddess with her face on the floor and her body hanging off from the bed.

"K-Kami-sama?! What's wrong?!" Bell exclaims, hurrying over to her and helping out.

"Ah, Bell-kun... this is nothing. I was just trying to stand up..." Hestia mumbles out, as Bell lifts her petite form and places her into the bed.

"Kami-sama, you shouldn't be trying to move... Your body is apparently very fatigued. What happened to you, Kami-sama?" Bell asks with worry.

"I used dogeza... for two days..." Hestia replies with confidence in her eyes.

"E-eh? Dogeza?" Bell repeats in confusion.

Hestia nods proudly. "Yes, dogeza. The ultimate technique! Takemikazuchi was the one who taught it to me!"

Bell sweatdrops at that. "Um, I see... but why did you do that, Kami-sama?"

Hestia's face softens and takes the dagger that was resting on his waist. "For this."

Bell's eyes widen in understanding. He hadn't exactly learned about how she had managed to obtain a weapon like that in the first place. "So, Kami-sama, how did you..." He trails off as he spots the engraving on the sheath's side.

[Ήφαιστος]—meaning, Hephaestus.

"...Kami-sama, this..."

"Bell-kun, when I would be working in the street, sometimes I would find you staring at that shop's window. I know how much you longed to have weapons like those... and unfortunately I know we're not capable of buying such things. But still, I know how much you have given me your support, and I wanted to do the same for you. So, I asked my friend to make this. As I've mentioned earlier, this was a weapon specifically made for you. This weapon is alive, you know? It'll grow the same way you do when you level up and get stronger! Isn't that amazing?" Hestia explains with a smile.

"But... Kami-sama, how much will it cost..." Bell starts to say, but Hestia cuts him off.

"Don't worry, I've discussed this with her," she responds nonchalantly. She gives him a smile. "There's no need for you to worry about the details, Bell-kun! I'm the one who'll be taking responsibility for it. After all, I am your goddess! You can completely rely on me too, you know!"

Bell looked like he was about to tear up. "Kami-sama...!"

Hestia lovingly smiles at him before her face shifts into an irritated frown. "...By the way, Bell-kun. When are you going to tell me about that girl?"

Bell blinks and follows Hestia's irritated gaze towards Neptune, who had been standing in front of the door the entire time. Upon seeing their stares, she smiles sheepishly. "Oh, don't mind me. Continue your moment."

Unfortunately for Neptune, the moment had already been ruined. Hestia continues to glare at Neptune's direction as Bell tries to explain. "Um, oh yes, Kami-sama, this is Nep-sama, she says she's a goddess from another dimension—"

"EH?! Goddess?! Bell-kun! I was only gone for two days, and you already found a new goddess?! How dare you, Bell-kun! I was thinking of you all this time! And you replace me for this... this girl with weird clothes!" Hestia shouts indignantly.

"A-ah, no, Kami-sama! I would never replace you!" Bell replies, waving his hands frantically.

"Don't lie to me, Bell-kun! I saw you two! You were spending time together! Why, Bell-kun?! I had more faith in you! ...Ah, wait, it's that girl's fault, isn't it? She probably seduced you, didn't she?!" She intensifies her glare at Neptune. "Back off, you conniving goddess! Bell-kun is mine! You can't take him away from me! Your flat chest won't get you anywhere!"

Neptune only sweatdrops at her words. "E-ehh...?"

Bell shakes his head, and tries to explain things once more. "N-no, it's not like that, Kami-sama! Nep-sama didn't do anything wrong! She didn't have a place to stay, so I took her in—"

Hestia looks even more horrified. " **TOOK HER IN?!** Bell-kun, does this mean... you've been sleeping together in the same roof?!"

"Um, technically in the same room, yes, but not in the way you're implying—"

"ALL THIS TIME?! IN OUR HOME?!"

"Yes, but—"

"NOOO! BELL-KUN, HOW COULD YOU—!"

"N-no, Kami-sama, I...!"

"OKAAAAAY, STOOOOP!"

Neptune's yell is enough to finally draw the other two's attention and get them to stop. Letting out a sigh, she approaches the goddess sitting on the bed.

"Listen, I didn't seduce Bell-kun or did anything with him while you were away. He found me in the Dungeon and let me stay at your place since I didn't have anywhere else to go. Bell-kun had helped me out all this time, so you don't have to get mad at him," Neptune explains.

Hestia seems to have simmered down a bit, but still continues to look upon Neptune with suspicious eyes. "...So, 'goddess from another dimension'—" Hestia didn't exactly know what that dimension part was all about, maybe it meant that she was a goddess that recently descended from Heaven? "—Bell-kun may be a nice boy, but I will not be as accepting. As the goddess of my Familia, I have responsibility over it as a functioning faction, not a place to take in homeless people."

"Oh, you don't need to worry about that. I actually want to join your Familia," Neptune answers.

Hestia blinks at her comment for a moment, before she stares at her with half-lidded eyes. "Ah, listen, newbie goddess. Other gods aren't allowed to join an existing Familia. It's against the Guild rules. Having more than one god in a Familia will cause some unfair balance, you know?"

"Yeah, I know that, so just take me in as a regular human," Neptune replies without missing a beat.

Hestia finds herself pausing again at the girl's words. "...As a human?"

Neptune nods in confirmation, crossing her arms with a nonchalant grin on her face. "Yep, I don't have a goddess's powers anymore. I'm just an ordinary human here. And I even have the records to prove it! Show it to her, Bell-kun!"

Bell blinks in surprise at her words, before remembering the papers Eina had given to him. "O-oh, that's right!" He reaches inside his backpack and hands Neptune's registration paper to Hestia, who reads it over with that suspicious look still on her face.

"Hmm, it says here you're human. Yet you claim to be a goddess? I don't get what you're trying to play here, false goddess," Hestia remarks with an unimpressed tone.

"Nah, nah, you don't get it," Neptune replies, waving a hand. "I -used- to be a goddess. Back in -my- dimension. In here, I've become an ordinary human. Bell-kun likes to keep referring to me as a goddess since he's too respectful."

Hestia could not understand what this girl was trying to get at. So, she simply concluded that this girl was actually a human girl who tricked innocent little Bell-kun's mind into thinking she was a goddess. She turns to give Bell a scolding look. "Bell-kun, really, you shouldn't easily believe girls who go around saying that they're goddesses."

Bell shrinks a little. "B-but, Nep-sama is very strong...! I saw it first-hand!"

"Bell-kun, just because a person is strong doesn't automatically mean they're a goddess! Honestly, Bell-kun, you're too easily deceived," Hestia reprimands.

"Ah, but... there's just something about Nep-sama that feels different, I think...?" Bell adds timidly.

As expected, Hestia continues to stare at him in an unconvinced manner, making him slump over.

"Well, we can put all that goddess stuff aside," Neptune says, her face determined. She then drops down and bows so low, her forehead was touching the floor. "I just want to join your Familia. That's all I ask!"

Hestia gasped at the sight. _'Dogeza...!'_

"...Why do want to join my Familia so badly...?"

"Because Bell-kun helped me. So I'll help him out too," Neptune replies honestly.

"Nep-sama...!" Bell looked like he wanted to cry at those words ( _'Such a sensitive kid'_ , Hestia thinks). Filled with a similar sense of determination, Bell faces Hestia with firm eyes. "Kami-sama, Nep-sama has also been very helpful to me. Because of her support, she has helped me face the monsters in the Dungeon and lets me earn more Valis than I ever did on my own. I can buy meat now!"

Hestia drools at the word. _'Meat...!'_

"So, I think Nep-sama is more than capable of joining our Familia!" Bell finishes.

Hestia stares at the unwavering determination in Bell's eyes. Aaagh, when he looks at her like that so intensely with those bright, innocent eyes, she feels like she can't possibly refuse. Bell is so unfair.

She glances back down at the purple-haired girl who was still bowing low. Hestia sighs, now knowing what Hephaestus had felt. She can sense the sincerity this girl had. Her origins were very messed up, but she doesn't seem to be a bad person, at least. She remembers that girl had protected Bell earlier. And Bell himself seems to think highly of her. And she does agree that it's about time he got a partner in the Dungeon. It's dangerous going solo. And the increased income was a bonus too (there would be meat! No more asking for leftovers at work!), aaand it would be nice if her Familia increased.

Seeing the numerous benefits this girl brought, Hestia gives in. The power of dogeza was frightening. With a defeated pout, she stares at Neptune's papers and thrusts an arm out. "Fine, give me a pen."

At her words, Bell and Neptune look upon her with shining eyes.

"Thanks a bunch, Mini-Noire!"

"What kind of nickname are you trying to label me with?!"

Once Bell quickly fetches a pen for her; Hestia signs the papers, approving of her membership.

"All right!" Neptune cheers, raising a fist in the air.

"Now then, I suppose I ought to give you my blessing," Hestia says. "Bell-kun, if you would."

Bell nods in understanding. "Ah, yes." He places the approved papers in his backpack and quietly leaves the room.

Neptune watches Bell leave with confusion. "Huh? What's going on?"

"As a member of my Familia, you need to be under my grace," Hestia explains. "So take off that jacket of yours and give me your back."

"Um, okay...?" Neptune removes her hoodie jacket and removes the straps of her dress, allowing Hestia to have a full view of her back. Now she gets why Hestia sent Bell out of the room; since she's a girl it would be inappropriate for a boy to see her like this.

"All right, just kneel down on the floor so I can work on it," Hestia says, bringing out the needle she always brought with her.

Neptune looks wary at the sight of the needle. "Uh, you're not gonna inject me with something, are you...?"

Hestia stares at her blankly. "No. Using my blood, I'm going to engrave my blessing within you."

Neptune looks uncomfortable. "Uhh, I'm not really on-board with the idea of someone else's blood on me. Can't you like, just say 'I giveth thee my blessingeth!'. That could work!"

"No, that's not how it works! Give me your back!"

"EHHHH—"

From outside, Bell sweatdrops as he hears the sounds of running and crashing coming from the room.

Back inside, Hestia was sitting down on Neptune, who was lying face-first on the floor. It was the exact position she would do to Bell except that in this situation Hestia was humorously pinning down Neptune so she wouldn't escape.

"Ugh, you're making things way too difficult," Hestia complains, ignoring Neptune's protests of "sexual harrassment" that were muffled due to her face being smushed on the floor. She removes her glove, then pricks her finger on the needle and prepares to write on Neptune's back.

As soon as her bloodied finger made contact with Neptune's skin, a bright purple glow suddenly flashed before her eyes.

 _'This is...!?'_

Surrounded by a purple glow, an unusually styled rune/emblem was already imprinted in Neptune's back. Her Status was written with engravings that she'd never seen before. Hestia could still somewhat understand the [Sacred Text] written on it though.

 **Neptune**

Lv. 1

Strength: SSS 1752

Endurance (Vitality): SSS 3409

Dexterity (Technique): SSS 3046

Agility: SSS 3304

Magic (Intelligence/Mentality): A 889

Luck: ?

Magic

[Hot Edge]

[Blast Edge]

[Thunder Edge]

[Ice Edge]

Skill

[Main Character Status]

\- Greatly increases Luck

\- Outcome of events is affected by her Luck

Neptune notices the glowing light from behind her and twists her head upwards to glimpse at it. "Oh, hey, that's the first time my status screen appeared like that! It looks kinda cool."

Meanwhile, Hestia could only gape at the statistics that were shown. Her abilities were literally off the charts!

The maximum limit of an Adventurer's parameters was 999 at rank S. And yet, here was this girl with numbers that went beyond that!

 _'A [Luck] stat...?'_ Hestia wonders. It's the first time she's seen a parameter like that appear. What got her suspicious was that it was impossible to discern the statistics behind the [Luck] stat. If she had none, it would be labeled as a zero, or it should not even show up at all. Instead, it was listed as a "?", meaning it was undefined.

 _'...Immeasurable?'_

Was an immeasurable stat actually possible...?!

 _'And what the heck is with this [Main Character] thing!?'_

"Uh... so... are we good? My back's starting to hurt," Neptune says from underneath, snapping Hestia out of her daze.

"...Listen, you self-proclaimed goddess," Hestia starts in a stern tone, "Your Status... you are to -never- show it to anyone, understand?"

Neptune blinks at her in puzzlement, before agreeing. "Um, okay, sure." It must be a rule, so Neptune accepted it without a second thought.

"All right, we're done," Hestia says as she gets off Neptune's back. "You can let Bell-kun in now."

After Neptune fixes her clothes, she walks over to the door and calls out for Bell. As he finally comes inside and starts to happily congratulate the girl on her membership, Hestia watches the two converse with wary, narrowed eyes.

Hestia had doubted the girl's claims that she was a goddess (or used to be one, according to her words) because no matter how she looked at it, that girl was mortal. Once a god descends into the [Lower World], their bodies are subjected to the same treatment the humans and earth dwellers did. Meaning, they were forbidden to use any of their divine powers, and had to suppress their divine aura. She hadn't sensed anything from that girl, which naturally led her to conclude that the girl was merely lying about her whole goddess situation.

However, that energy she had sensed earlier from the girl's Status... it was very faint, but she could detect some divine energy flowing from it.

 _"Ah, but... there's just something about Nep-sama that feels different, I think...?"_

...Yes, she agrees with him now. That Nepu... Nepto... Nepyu...

...Self-proclaimed goddess was obviously not your everyday, run-of-the-mill human. Her Status and bizarre taste in fashion was proof of that.

Ugh, it was bad enough that she had Bell's unusually fast growth rate to worry about, but this girl comes in with those outrageous parameters! No matter what, she had to keep this a secret from the other gods. If they found out that these two had extraordinary abilities... the amount of pestering that will happen will be very irritating to deal with. For the gods who always sought out entertainment in their lives, they would practically do anything in their power to make things more interesting. Or even worse, they might actually try to steal them—Bell away from her! She won't let that happen! Ever!

So, she will have to watch over those two. Especially that girl.

To that girl with the unusual appearance... to that girl with the convoluted origins... to that girl with the impossibly high stats... to that girl possessing slight divine energy... to that girl who managed to somehow **-obtain Bell's admiration-**...

She will be keeping a close eye on her.

 _'Nepwhatsyourface... just what exactly are you?'_

* * *

 **Bell Cranel**

 **Status**

Lv. 1

Strength: E 476

Endurance: G 204

Dexterity: E 424

Agility: D 589

Magic: I 0

Magic

[]

Skill

[Realis Phrase]

\- Accelerates Growth

\- Effects last as long as his feelings are unchanged

\- Effects are determined by the strength of his feelings

Affiliation: [Hestia Familia]

Headquarters: A Church's Hidden Room

Race: Human

Class: Adventurer

Achieved Floor: 6th floor

Weapon: Dagger

Money: 18,849 Valis

 **Equipment**

[Dagger] - Bell had bought it from the Guild along with his defense equipment, and spent half a month to pay for it. Had been broken during his battle with the Silverback.

[Hestia Knife] - Given by and named after Hestia. It is a specially-crafted weapon that will grow along with the user. Only those who have Hestia's grace will be able to use it. Has a 35 year loan, 420 installment.

 **Neptune**

 **Status**

Lv. 1

Strength: SSS 1752

Endurance (Vitality): SSS 3409

Dexterity (Technique): SSS 3046

Agility: SSS 3304

Magic (Intelligence/Mentality): A 889

Luck: ?

Magic

[Hot Edge]

[Blast Edge]

[Thunder Edge]

[Ice Edge]

Skill

[Main Character Status]

\- Greatly increases Luck

\- Outcome of events is affected by her Luck

Affiliation: [Hestia Familia]

Headquarters: A Church's Hidden Room/Hestia's Bed

Race: Human(?)

Class: Adventurer

Achieved Floor: 6th floor

Weapon: Wooden Sword

Money: She lets Bell handle all the money

 **Equipment**

[Wooden Sword] - A sword that was given to Neptune for free. With Neptune's strength, she's capable of slicing through flesh with it. Was destroyed in the battle with the Silverback.

* * *

 **Some trivia:**

 ** _Dogeza_ \- the act of prostrating oneself on the ground. In Japanese culture, it can be either used to express a deep apology or asking a favor from someone. It's considered as a humiliating act, and doing it when apologizing means that you're willing to degrade yourself just to sway the other person into forgiving you or granting your favor; hence the reason why it's referred to as "the ultimate apology". (The Spirit of Japan - Japanese "Dogeza" Culture. yumi-yuma-yume-dot-wordpress-dot-com; remove the lines).**

* * *

...Huh, funny thing is, I keep telling myself that I'd make chapters "short and sweet", but next thing I know I end up typing 10k+ chapters like these. Geesh. Ah, well, I guess you readers deserve this much after my long absence. I'm not that good with writing fight scenes by the way, but that was what I ended up going with. Dah.

'Nyways, I'll get some explanations done.

 _Why the eff is Nep so OP?_

Regarding about Neptune's stats, one's Status in the DanMachi world is apparently measured by one's physical capabilities, and the growth of one's stats is affected by the actions that you do (i.e, like in Bell's case, all that running about caused his Agility stat to increase). In DanMachi terms, it's gaining it through "excilia" (experience points). I figured that Neptune, being the energetic slacker that she is and the moves that she can bust out during monster battles; and due to being a goddess she must have obviously honed her skills somehow throughout all those decades, which is reflected with her Status parameters.

 _Will Nep become even MOAR OP?_

Neptune's stats are already maxed out and will remain that way even if she does level up à la Aqua from _KonoSuba_ —

 _Why KonoSuba?!_

...Because inspiration?

So, anyway—

According to the Neptunia wiki, Neptune's stats at Level 999 are around 6k, but because her goddess powers are gone she's only at half her strength. I took the liberty of literally halving her stats and making it 3k. So there we go. Her Magic stat is an exception, since Neptune was more of a physical hitter than a magic-casting person anyway. Her Strength parameter is low for a reason, and will be revealed in due time. As for her Luck, the words "Main Character Status" should already be self-explanatory. And gameplay-wise, she does have the highest [LUK] out of all the playable characters. Once again, MCS.

I guess while we're at it, I'll mention the deal with Neptune becoming Purple Heart and stuff. I've been thinking about it for a while, but I think it's best if Neptune's left being a human all throughout the story. Have Nep learn the difficulties of being human, hardwork and whatnot, so sorry about the lack of sexy Purple Heart. Also, another reason is because Nep's OP enough in the DanMachi world as it is, and when she becomes a goddess she'll become way too OP and that would cause complications since as stated earlier, gods who descended into the Lower World aren't allowed to use their divine powers. If Neptune gets discovered later on that'll cause a whole bunch of aforementioned complications and possible conflict drama stuff.

...Also I prefer Neptune being her cute and moe self and want to squeeze out every single moment of it. *is shot*

However! I do have plans for Neptune's "slight divinity" thing.

 _Why the heck did the Monster Festival take place at night?_

Because! Everything would feel a lot more dramatic if it takes place at night! ...And well, when I first read that part in the LN, I thought it was at night because I got mislead with the whole "Magic Stone Lamp" thing. When I backtracked and read it again and saw the anime, I realized "Oh, it took place in the morning". But I figured, this is a fanfic! With Neptune's presence, everything's bound to end up being different now anyways! ...So there. Speaking of deviations, for those who noticed Bell's stats, they're slightly higher compared to the ones he originally had in the LN because he ended up training in the 6th floor. So he's a bit stronger, but still nothing that powerful that will drastically affect the plot in any way.

...

Also, I've edited stuff and decided to "un-bold" author's notes, because I wouldn't want to overwhelm you readers with large amounts of bolded text with ridiculously long explanations like this in the future.

Welp, that's it for now. And as always, if there's any info that needs correcting, just tell me and I'll do the necessary editing!


End file.
